


















































































COPYRIGHT DEPG&m 









V _ 








) 










" 











. . 





/ 








' 


. , 










































































































. 

























































. 



N 













































4 

















s. 


j 




* 
































( 























































. 


■* 































































































































’V f > 










.. 

















They Came Whispering and With Suppressed Giggles up the 
Steep Stairway. 



























A DEAR 
LITTLE GIRL 
AT SCHOOL 






AMY E. BLANCHARD 

$1 






PHILADELPHIA 

GEORGE W. JACOBS COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


















Copyright, 1910, 

By George W. Jacobs & Co, 

Published August, 1910 




All rights reserved 
Printed in U. 8. A. 


©CLA271134 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I Cousin Ben ........ 1 

II The Secret.20 

III A Saturday Afternoon.38 

IV A Thanksgiving Dinner .... 57 

V In a Blizzard. 81 

VI Cousin Ben to the Rescue .... 102 

YII Disturbances. 124 

VIII The Friendless Friends .... 145 

IX The Puzzle. 165 

X A Downfall of Pride .184 

XI A New Member.203 

XII The Flower Play.226 







































































































' 

■ 




































































































' 

v 











ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 

PAGE 

They came whispering and with suppressed 


giggles up the steep stairway . . Frontispiece / 

“The Friendlessers Party”.152 

4 ‘ Did you never hear of a man cook ? ” . . . 126 

4 ‘ Don’t you want to see my paper doll ? It is 
such a beauty”.198 


At the gate to watch the sunset all yellow and 
glowing ..246 









A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT 
SCHOOL 

CHAPTER I 

COUSIN BEN 

Edna and Cousin Ben Barker were on 
the back porch. It was a favorite place, 
for it was always shady there in summer 
and out of the wind on cold days. If big 
Cousin Ben did not always like to be 
where Edna was, on the other hand Edna 
invariably sought out Cousin Ben if he 
were to be found about the premises. 

On this special afternoon he was doing 
something to his wheel, getting it in order 
for a long ride which he had planned for 
the next day. Edna stood watching him, 
1 


2 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


ready to hand a tool or run for a piece of 
rag to be used in cleaning, or to fill the oil 
can from the bottle on the shelf upstairs. 

“Where are you going to-day, Cousin 
Ben?” Edna always asked this for 
Cousin Ben’s replies were generally so 
funny. 

“I’m going to the woods,” he said, “to 
see Johnny-jump-up. ’ ’ 

“Why will he jump up?” asked Edna 
in pleased expectancy of something amus¬ 
ing. 

“Because the dog-wood bark, you 
know.” 

“I know dog-wood blossoms,” returned 
Edna a little doubtfully. 

“Of course, and I dare say you know 
the dog-wood bark, too, don’t you?” 

“Ye-es, I suppose so.” 

Cousin Ben went on burnishing the 
metal he was at work upon. “You see,” 
he continued after a moment, “the cat- 



COUSIN BEN 


3 


kins will all be out and when I meet one 
I shall say, 4 Pussy, will oh, will you tell 
me the way to the elder Berries/ ” 

“What do you suppose she will say?” 
inquired Edna settling herself well con¬ 
tent to continue this sort of talk, though 
thinking it was scarcely the season for 
Pussy-willows. 

“She will say: 4 The elder Berry? 
My dear boy, any dog ought to know the 
way there/ You see she knows I am a 
Barker/’ 

Edna laughed. “Go on.” 

4 4 And I will say, 4 Yes, madam, but that 
sassy Fras always tries to get in my path. 
It is a very easy matter to whip poor Will, 
but sassy Fras is another matter. ’ Then 
she will ask: 4 Did you ever try to haze 
L. Nutt?’ and I will reply, 4 Chestnuts!’ 
for I don’t like to talk about hazing, being 
in a position to expect a little of it any 
day. Well, Ande, I must be off or I will 



4 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 

find Pip’s sis away.’ ’ Cousin Ben always 
called Edna Ande because be declared 
that was wbat ber name really was but 
bad been turned bind side before. Some 
persons, Edna’s sister Celia and Agnes 
Evans, for instance, called Cousin Ben a 
very silly boy, but Edna tbougbt bis kind 
of nonsense great fun. 

It was an afternoon in autumn. For 
some time past, Edna and ber sister bad 
been going into tbe city to school every 
day, but this was tbe last week when tbis 
would be done, for after tbis they would 
go only on Mondays returning on Fri¬ 
days till tbe days became long again. 
During tbe winter when it was still dark 
at seven in tbe morning, and when tbe 
afternoons were so short, it bad seemed 
better that they should not come borne 
every day. Therefore, as Aunt Elizabeth 
Horner and Uncle Justus wanted much 
to have them remain, it was so arranged. 



COUSIN BEN 


5 


Edna was a great favorite with her Uncle 
Justus, for she had spent the winter previ¬ 
ous at his house and had gone to his 
school. Then, on account of Mr. Con¬ 
way’s business, the family had removed 
from the town in which they had formerly 
lived and had taken a house a little out 
of the city. 

Like most children Edna loved the 
country and was glad of the change. A 
little further up the road lived her friend 
Dorothy Evans and her sister Agnes, the 
latter was a little older than Edna’s sister 
Celia. All four girls attended Uncle 
Justus’ school and so did Margaret Mac¬ 
Donald, the adopted daughter of good 
Mrs. MacDonald who lived in the big gray 
stone house with the lovely grounds. 
Margaret was having a pretty hard time 
of it, as she had never had much oppor¬ 
tunity of going to school and was far be¬ 
hind the girls of her own age. Edna and 



8 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


Dorothy were her staunch defenders, 
howevei and when matters came to a too 
difficult pass the older girls were appealed 
to and could always straighten out what¬ 
ever was wrong. Prank and Charlie, 
Edna’s brothers, were almost too large 
for Uncle Justus’ school, where only little 
fellows went, so they went elsewhere to 
the school which Roger and Steve Porter 
attended. It was Cousin Ben’s first year 
at college, and he was housed at the Con¬ 
ways, his mother being an elder sister of 
Edna’s mother. 

After seeing Cousin Ben start off, Edna 
left the porch and stood for a moment 
thinking what she would do next. This 
being the last time she would be at home 
for the entire week, she concluded she 
ought to make the most of it, but first she 
must get together such things as she 
should want for Monday. “ Tuesday, 
Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, 



COUSIN BEN 


7 


and Monday, too. There are only four, 
after all,” she said, counting the days on 
her fingers. “It seems very much longer 
when you first think of it.” And then, as 
she continued to think, to her surprise she 
discovered that only Tuesdays, Wednes¬ 
days and Thursdays would be the en¬ 
tire days she would spend away from 
home. 

She was so interested in having found 
this out that she ran upstairs to her 
mother, to tell of it. “Mother,” she said, 
“I have made a discovery.” 

“You have, and what is it?” said Mrs. 
Conway. 

“Why, here I’ve been thinking I’d be 
away from you the whole week all but Sat¬ 
urday and Sunday, and now I find out I 
shall see you every day but three, ’cause, 
you know, I don’t start till after break¬ 
fast on Monday, so that’s one day. Then 
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I 



8 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


don’t see yon, but I get back in time for 
dinner on Friday, so there is Friday, Sat¬ 
urday and Sunday, three more days. 
Isn’t it fine^” 

“Very, I think.” 

“And the funny part is,” Edna went on 
busily thinking, “I am at school five days 
out of the seven. It’s almost like a 
puzzle, isn’t it? I think I shall take Ada 
with me and leave her there. She is used 
to it, and won’t mind as much as some of 
the other dolls, for she was there all last 
year and besides, Aunt Elizabeth gave her 
to me. Aunt Elizabeth is quite kind 
sometimes, isn’t she?” 

“She means to be kind all the time, but 
she has rather a stern manner.” 

“Did you used to be afraid of her when 
you were a little girl?” 

“No, honey, because I didn’t know her. 
She is your papa’s aunt, you know.” 

“And he told me he didn’t see much of 



COUSIN BEN 


9 


her, for he lived in quite another place, 
and I suppose by the time he grew up he 
wasn’t afraid of anybody. Well, anyhow, 
I’m glad it won’t be 6 butter or molasses’ 
all the week.” 

44 What do you mean, dearie?” 

44 Why, you know we couldn’t have both 
and there were never any preserves. 
Sometimes there were stewed apples, the 
dried kind, and they were not so very bad 
when they were sweet enough and had a 
lot of lemon flavor in them. I used to ask 
Ellen to do them that way and she always 
would, except when Aunt Elizabeth was in 
the kitchen and then she had to do as 
Aunt Elizabeth told her. If you have 
more preserves than you can use, don’t 
you think you could send her some, 
mother? You see we shall not be here to 
eat them, Celia and I, and you won’t have 
to use so many.” 

4 4 That is an idea. Why, yes, I can send 



10 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


some in every week when you go, and Ce¬ 
lia can tell Aunt Elizabeth to have them 
for your supper. ” 

“How will she tell her?” asked Edna, 
feeling that this was an ordeal that she 
would not like to go through. 

“Why, it will be very easy to say, 
‘Aunt Elizabeth, here are some preserves 
mother thought would be nice for supper 
to-night.’ Don’t you think that would 
be easy to say?” 

“Ye-es,” returned Edna a little doubt¬ 
ful if this would have the proper effect. 
“I think myself it would be better to let 
Ellen have them or Uncle Justus.” 

Her mother laughed. Edna’s awe of 
Aunt Elizabeth was so very apparent. 

“There is one thing I wish you would 
promise,” the little girl went on, “and 
that is, that you will always have hot 
cakes on Saturday mornings so I can have 
butter and syrup both.” 



COUSIN BEN 


11 


“I promise/ ’ replied her mother smil¬ 
ing- 

“I know Louis is mighty glad not to be 
going back/’ Edna continued, “and I’m 
rather glad he isn’t myself, for this year 
I shall have Celia.” 

“I thought you were fond of Louis.” 

“I am pretty fond of him, but I’d 
rather have girls about all the time than 
boys all the time. Girls fuss with you, of 
course. They get mad and won’t speak, 
but I’d liefer they’d do that than try to 
boss you the way boys do. Mother, there 
is another thing I wish you would do, add 
that is I wish you would tell Aunt Eliza¬ 
beth that she will please let Dorothy come 
to play with me sometimes. Dorothy is 
my particular friend, you know, and Aunt 
Elizabeth will never allow me to have her 
visit me unless you say she can.” 

“ Did she never allow you to have com¬ 
pany last winter?” 



12 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


Edna shook her head and a sigh escaped 
her. 

“I will arrange that Dorothy shall 
come,” said her mother quite firmly. 

“It’s going to be much nicer than last 
year,” remarked Edna in a satisfied tone, 
“for I shall always have Celia to go to, 
and you will be so near, too, and besides I 
like Uncle Justus much better than I did 
at first.” 

“Of the two I should think you would 
have more fear of Uncle Justus than 
of Aunt Elizabeth,” said her mother look¬ 
ing down at her. 

“I did at first, but I found it was 
mostly on account of his eyebrows; they 
are so shaggy.” 

Mrs. Conway smiled. “I have heard it 
said that he can be rather terrible,” she 
remarked. 

“Oh, well, so he can, but he isn’t all the 
time and Aunt Elizabeth is.” 



COUSIN BEN 


13 


“I hope this year you will find out that 
it is only Aunt Elizabeth’s eyebrows, 
too.” 

“It couldn’t be, for she hasn’t any to 
speak of, ” returned Edna. As she talked 
she was carefully packing the little trunk 
in which Ada’s clothes were kept. It was 
a tiny trunk, only about six inches long. 
Aunt Elizabeth had made it, herself, by 
covering a box with leather and strapping 
the leather across with strips of wood 
glued on. Edna liked the trunk much 
better than a larger one which had been 
bought at the store. Aunt Elizabeth was 
very clever in making things of this kind 
and would sometimes surprise her little 
niece with some home-made gift which 
was the more prized because it was un¬ 
usual. The child remembered this now 
and began to feel that she had not 
shown herself very grateful in speaking 
as she had done a moment before. 



14 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


4 ‘ Mother, ’ ’ she said. 4 ‘ I didn ’t mean that 
Aunt Elizabeth was frightful all the time. 
She is very kind when she gives me things 
like this trunk.’’ 

“You don’t mean frightful,” replied 
Mrs. Conway laughing, “you mean she is 
rather formidable.” 

But that was too much of a word for 
Edna, though she did not say so. Hav¬ 
ing stowed away Ada’s belongings, three 
frocks, two petticoats, a red hood and 
sacque, a blue dressing-gown and apron, 
she shut the lid. “I don’t think I’ll take 
her furs this week because she’ll not need 
them,” she remarked, “and I don’t think 
I will take any of my other dolls because 
I will be so glad to see them next Friday. 
Mother, if you come into town any time 
during the week will you come out to see 
us?” 

“If I have time I certainly shall.” 

Edna gave a sigh of content. It was 



COUSIN BEN 


15 


surely going to be much better than last 
year. “ Mother, ” she said, changing the 
subject, “do you think Cousin Ben is 
silly?” 

“He can be rather silly but he can also 
be very sensible. He is silly only when he 
wants to tease or when he wants to amuse 
a little girl I know.” 

“I like his silly better than some of the 
big girls ’s sillies. They giggle so much 
and aren’t funny at all. I think he is 
very funny. He says such queer things 
about the trees and plants in the woods. 
He twists their names around so they 
mean something else. Like the dog-wood 
bark, you know. Mother, what is haz¬ 
ing?” 

“It is the kind of thing the college boys 
do to those in a lower class; they play 
tricks on them which sometimes are really 
very cruel.” 

“Do you mean they really hurt them?” 



16 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


f 

“Sometimes they hurt them very much. 
I knew of one young man who was forced 
into a pond of water on an icy day in the 
fall, and who nearly died of pneumonia 
in consequence of the cold he took from 
having to be in his wet clothes so long.” 

“Do you think they will do anything 
like that to Cousin Ben?” 

“I certainly hope not, though no doubt 
there will be some tricks played on him 
as he is a Freshman.” 

Edna knew what a Freshman was but 
the matter of hazing was quite new to her 
and troubled her very much. Cousin 
Ben had gone out alone to the woods. 
Perhaps this very moment someone was 
lying in wait for him. 

Hastily setting away the doll and trunk 
she ran downstairs, put on her coat and 
hat and started up the road toward the 
woods nearest. She had no exact plan in 
her mind, but she knew Cousin Ben had 



COUSIN BEN 


17 


probably gone to see one of his classmates 
who lived just beyond this piece of woods. 
The college was on the outskirts of the 
cit} and the dormitories were within easy 
walking distance, so that one was liable 
to see a group of college boys at almost 
any time. Edna trotted along hoping to 
overtake her cousin. She did not believe 
anyone would attack him unless he were 
alone, and she meant to keep him company 
on his return walk. Just as she reached 
the edge of the woods she came upon a 
group of Sophomores standing a short 
distance away and she heard one say. 
“We’ll nab him as he comes out, boys.” 

Who could they mean but Cousin Ben ? 
She walked slowly that she might, if pos¬ 
sible, hear more. 

“You’re sure he came this way?” she 
heard another say. 

“Sure,” was the reply. “We saw him 
go in Abercrombie’s gate.” 



18 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


That settled it in Edna’s mind, for it 
was Will Abercrombie whose house 
Cousin Ben most frequented. She hes¬ 
itated a moment, wondering what path 
her cousin would take, and then she re¬ 
membered that the short cut was through 
the woods; it was much longer by the 
road. It was already getting rather late 
and it looked grim and gloomy in the 
woods, but there was nothing to do but 
face any danger and go straight ahead. 
She was crafty enough not to turn in at 
once for fear the boys might suspect, so 
she kept on a short distance to where the 
road turned and then she cut into the bit 
of forest scrambling up the bank and 
scratching her hands, with the brambles, 
but reaching the path in a few minutes. 
The further she went the darker it grew. 
The sun was setting and she could see long 
fingers of light between the trees. She 
wished she had some one with her, that 



COUSIN BEN 


19 


Cousin Ben would appear before she went 
much further, but there was no sign of 
him and she plodded on, the dead leaves 
rustling about her feet or falling from 
overhead, giving her little starts of fear. 
It seemed a long, long way, and she al¬ 
most wished she had not undertaken the 
work of rescue, but at last she saw, dimly 
ahead of her, a figure approaching and 
heard a cheerful whistling which she rec¬ 
ognized as her cousin’s. And she darted 
forward to meet him. 



CHAPTER II 


THE SECRET 

Cousin Ben striding along did not at 
first see the little girl, but at her calling 
“Cousin Ben, Cousin Ben,” he stopped 
short. 

“Why, you little monkey, what are you 
doing here?” he said. “The bugaboos 
will catch you here in these dark woods.” 

“There isn’t such a thing as bugaboos,” 
returned Edna stoutly, “and I should be 
very silly to think so, but something will 
catch you if you don’t look out.” 

“ ‘The gob-e-lins will get you if you 
don’t look out,’ ” replied Cousin Ben, 
laughing. “Is that what you are trying 
to say? If you are not afraid of buga¬ 
boos neither am I afraid of goblins. 

20 


THE SECRET 


21 


What do you think is going to get a big 
fellow like me?” 

“Why,” said Edna at once becoming 
serious, “I will tell you; I heard some 
college boys talking back there by the edge 
of the woods.” 

“You did? and what did they say?” 

“They said: 4 We’ll nab him as he 
comes out, boys.’ ” 

“Humph! What did they look like? 
Did you know any of them?” 

“The one who said that was John Field¬ 
ing, and there was another that I’ve seen 
before. He sits back of our pew at 
church.” 

“Sophs, both of them, and did you come 
all this way to tell me about it?” 

“Why, yes, I was afraid they wanted 
to haze you.” 

“What do you know about hazing?” 

“Mother told me about a young man 
who nearly died of pneumonia because 



22 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


some of the boys doused him in cold water, 
in a pond or something.” 

“And you didn’t want me to have pneu¬ 
monia. I won’t on this occasion, I prom¬ 
ise you. I think we can circumnavigate 
those fellows. I won’t see Johnny-jump- 
up to-day.” 

Edna laughed. “Won’t they be disap¬ 
pointed?” 

“They will that. Now come along and 
let’s get out of here.” 

“Which way shall we go?” 

“Oh, we will take the back road and 
come out there below the MacDonald barn 
so they won’t get a hint of our coming 
home, for the barn is below the woods, 
you know. It is a little further, but I 
hope you don’t mind that.” 

“No, indeed, I am so glad to have you 
get out of the way of those boys.” 

“If I can manage to side-track them 
for a while perhaps they won’t be so keen. 



THE SECRET 


23 


I thought they had it in for me, and have 
been rather expecting an onslaught.’’ 

They cut through the woods, coming out 
the other side and taking a short road not 
much used, which brought them out a lit¬ 
tle distance from the main road which 
was then easily reached. “Now we’re 
safe,” said Edna with satisfaction as she 
saw her own gate. 

“We? You don’t suppose they’d haze 
you, do you?’ 

“Oh, no, but I feel safer when I am 
near home.” 

Ben dropped his bantering tone when 
they came up to the gate. “I say, Edna,” 
he said, “you are a real Trojan to do this 
for me, and I shall not forget it in a 
hurry. Lots of big girls and boys, too, 
would have let the thing go, and not have 
taken the trouble. I am a thousand times 
obliged to you.” 

“Oh, but I wanted to do it, you know. 



24 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


I should have been very unhappy if any¬ 
thing had happened to you.” 

“I believe you would,” returned Ben 
seriously; and they went in the house 
together. 

This was the last Edna heard of hazing 
and if Cousin Ben was ever caught he 
did not tell her or anyone else. 

Monday came around quite soon enough 
and Edna started off with her sister Ce¬ 
lia to go to the city. It seemed quite 
natural to be back in the room which she 
had occupied the year before, only now 
Celia would share it with her. Ada was 
put in her old place on a little chair, her 
trunk by her side, and then the two girls 
went down to the school-room where a 
number of the pupils had already gath¬ 
ered. One of these was Clara Adams, a 
little girl whom Edna was sorry to see 
entering the school that year. She was 
a spoiled, discontented child who was 



THE SECRET 


25 


continually pouting over some fancied 
grievance, and was what Dorothy and 
Edna called ‘ 4 fusty.” For some reason 
she was always trying to pick a quarrel 
with Edna, and by the whispering which 
went on when Edna entered the room and 
the sidelong looks which were cast at her, 
as two or three girls, with hands to 
mouths, nudged one another, she felt sure 
that on this special occasion she was be¬ 
ing talked about. However, she paid no 
attention to this little group but went 
over to where Dorothy was sitting and be¬ 
gan to tell her about the preserves which 
Celia had successfully given in Ellen’s 
charge. 

At recess the same group of girls which 
had been whispering in the morning, 
again gathered in one corner and began 
their talk in low tones. Clara Adams 
was in the centre and it was she to whom 
the others were all looking. Clara was a 



26 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


favorite because of her wealth rather than 
because of her disposition, and she had 
followers who liked to have it said that 
they were intimate with her, 

“What do you suppose they are talking 
about?” said Dorothy after a while. 

“I’in sure I don’t know and what’s 
more I don’t care,” replied Edna. “Do 
you care, Dorothy?” 

“Oh, I don’t know; just a little, I think. 
See, they are going over and whispering 
to Molly Clark, and she is getting up and 
going over there. I wonder what it is all 
about.” 

Edna wondered, too, but neither she nor 
Dorothy found out that day. The same 
thing went on the next day. One by one 
most of the girls whom Edna and Dorothy 
liked the best were seen to join the little 
company of whisperers, and whenever 
Clara Adams would pass the two friends 
she would give them a look as much as 



THE SECRET 


27 


to say, Wouldn’t you like to know what 
we know? 

“I think it is just horrid mean of 
them,” said Dorothy when the next day 
came and they were no nearer to knowing 
the secret than they had been in the be¬ 
ginning. 

“I heard Molly say something about to¬ 
morrow afternoon,” said Edna. “They 
are all going to do something or go some¬ 
where. I am going to tell sister, so I 
am.” 

“And I’ll tell my sister. Maybe they 
know something about it, Edna.” 

They lost no time in seeking out their 
sisters to whom they made known the 
state of affairs. “And they are getting 
hold of nearly all the nicest girls,” com¬ 
plained Edna. “Molly Clark, and Ruth 
Cutting and all those. They haven’t said 
anything to Margaret, for I asked her. 
She isn’t here to-day.” 



28 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“Have you any idea what they are go¬ 
ing to do?” Dorothy asked her sister. 

“I have an idea, but it may not be 
right.” 

“Oh, tell us, do.” The two younger 
girls were very eager. 

Agnes leaned over and said in a low 
voice, “I believe they are getting up some 
sort of club.” 

“Oh!” This idea had never occurred 
to either of the little girls before. 

“And they don’t want us in it,” said 
Edna, “I wonder why.” 

“It is all that horrid Clara Adams,” de¬ 
clared Dorothy. “She is jealous of you 
because you always know your lessons and 
behave yourself, and she don’t like me be¬ 
cause I go with you and won’t give you 
up for her.” 

“How do you know?” asked Edna. 

“I know,” returned Dorothy, and then 
she shut her lips very tightly. 



THE SECRET 


29 


“All the girls used to like us,” said 
Edna sadly. 

“Bless your dear heart,” said Agnes 
drawing the child to her, “I shouldn’t care. 
They will be sorry enough after a while, 
you may be sure, and will wish they had 
treated you two better. Celia, we mustn’t 
let those little whippersnappers have it all 
their own way. Never you mind, chil¬ 
dren, we’ll do something, too. Celia and 
I will talk it over and let you know to¬ 
morrow. You and Celia come up to our 
house Saturday afternoon and we’ll see 
if we can get Margaret and perhaps one 
or two others. Now run along and let us 
talk over a plan I have.” 

The two went off joyously, arms around 
one another. When Agnes championed 
their cause there was no more reason to 
be troubled, and they finished their recess 
in a corner by themselves quite content. 

There were not more than a dozen little 



30 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


girls in the class and when half of these 
had gone over to the enemy, and one or 
two were absent it left a very small num¬ 
ber for Edna and Dorothy to count upon, 
but they did not care after the older girls 
had taken up their cause, and they cast 
quite as independent looks at Clara as 
she did at them. They would have a 
secret too. “And it will be a great deal 
nicer than theirs,” declared Dorothy. 
So when the bell rang they went back 
to their seats in a very happy frame of 
mind. 

The next day a new pupil appeared and 
at recess she was swooped down upon by 
one of Clara’s friends and was borne 
away, but after a while she left the group 
and went back to her seat. Dorothy and 
Edna were out in the school yard playing, 
but when they came in the new scholar 
looked smilingly at Edna and after a 
while she made her way to where they 



THE SECRET 


31 


were standing. “Isn’t this Edna Con¬ 
way ?” she asked. 

“Yes, I’m Edna,” was the reply from 
the little round-faced girl who smiled at 
her. 

“I’m Jennie Ramsey, and my mother 
told me to be sure to speak to you and tell 
you I was at the fair last year and I 
was so glad when you got the doll.” 

“Oh, were you there?” Edna looked 
pleased. “I am so glad you have come 
here to school. This is Dorothy Evans.” 

Jennie and Dorothy smiled at each 
other and Edna went on. “Dorothy 
don’t you remember about Mrs. Ramsey 
who took so much trouble to get Margaret 
away from that dreadful woman? She 
must be a lovely mother, for she was so 
dear to Margaret.” 

“Do tell me about her,” said Jennie. 
“J have been so much interested, for 
mother told me all about how you ran 



32 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


against her in the street and how you won 
the doll for her and all about her being 
adopted so I did hope I should know you 
some day. I’d like to be friends, if you 
will let me.” 

“Oh, I’d love to be,” Edna spoke 
heartily, “and I am so glad you know 
about Margaret. She comes here to 
school, but of course she isn’t very happy 
about haying to be in the class with such 
little girls. Mrs. MacDonald is talking 
of getting a governess for her till she can 
catch up a little, but we shall be sorry to 
have her not come here.” 

“Do you know Clara Adams'?” Dor¬ 
othy asked. “I mean did you know her 
before you came to school?” 

“Yes, I know her. She is in my Sun¬ 
day-school class,” returned Jennie, but 
she said nothing more, yet both the other 
two felt quite sure that there was no like¬ 
lihood of Jennie’s going over to the other 



THE SECRET 


33 


faction. Then the bell rang and they all 
took their seats. 

“Don’t you like her?” whispered Edna 
before Miss Ashurst had taken her 
place. 

Dorothy nodded yes, and glanced across 
at Clara who curled her lip scornfully. 

When school was dismissed Jennie and 
Dorothy walked home together. Agnes 
and Dorothy remained in the city during 
the week just as the two Conway sisters 
had begun to do. Edna sought her sister 
Celia after dinner when the two had their 
study hour. “Isn’t it nice,” said Edna, 
“Jennie Ramsey has come to school, and 
she is such a nice little girl. I heard Uncle 
Justus say once that Mrs. Ramsey was 
much wealthier than Mrs. Adams but that 
one never saw her making an}^ pretence 
because of her money. What is pretence, 
sister?” 

“It is pretending, I suppose. I think 



34 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


he meant she didn’t put on airs because 
of having money.” 

Edna nodded. She quite understood. 
“Wasn’t it lovely for Jennie to want to 
be friends ? She said her mother told her 
to be sure to speak to me, and, oh, sister, 
we saw one of the other girls go over and 
try to get her to join Clara’s set and she 
didn’t stay but came over to us.” She 
said she knew Clara but I don’t believe 
she likes her. Did you and Agnes talk 
about, you know what?” 

“ Yes, and we’ll tell you but you mustn’t 
ask me any questions now for I shall not 
answer. Now let us get to work or Aunt 
Elizabeth will be down on us for talking 
in study hour.” 

Edna turned her attention to her books 
and in a moment was not thinking of 
anything but her geography. 

She could scarcely wait till the next 
day, however, when she and Dorothy 



THE SECRET 


35 


should learn what Agnes had planned, but 
alas, she was not allowed this pleasure 
for Aunt Elizabeth called her from the 
school-room just at recess and took her 
down to see Miss Martin, the daughter of 
the rector of the church. Of course 
Edna was very glad to see Miss Martin, 
for she was very fond of her, but she did 
wish she had chosen some other day to 
call, and not only was Edna required to 
remain down in the parlor during the 
whole of recess but she was again sum¬ 
moned before she had a chance to speak a 
word to anyone at the close of school. 
This time it was to run an errand to the 
shop where an order had been forgotten 
and Edna was despatched to bring home 
the required article, Ellen being too busy 
to be spared. 

She felt rather out of sorts at having 
both of her opportunities taken from her. 
“I don’t see why they couldn’t have sent 



36 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


sister,” she said to herself, “or why they 
couldn’t do without rice for just this once. 
I should think something else would be 
better, anyway, for dessert than rice and 
sugar.” But there was no arranging 
Aunt Elizabeth’s affairs for her and when 
the dish of rice appeared Edna was 
obliged to eat it in place of any other 
dessert. Her ill humor passed away, 
however, when Uncle Justus looked at her 
from under his shaggy brows and asked 
her if she didn’t want to go to Captain 
Doane’s with him. This was a place 
which always delighted her, for Captain 
Doane had been all over the world and 
had brought back with him all sorts of 
curiosities. Moreover, there was always 
a supply of preserved ginger taken from 
a queer jar with twisted handles, and 
there was also an especially toothsome 
cake which the captain’s housekeeper 
served, so Edna felt that the feast in store 



THE SECRET 


37 


for her, quite made up for the poverty of 
a dessert of boiled rice and sugar. 

She wondered that Celia was not also 
asked to go, but she remembered that 
Celia did not know Captain Doane, and 
that probably she would think it very 
stupid to play with shells and other queer 
things while two old gentlemen talked on 
politics or some such dry subject. There¬ 
fore she went off very happily, rather 
glad that after all there was a pleasure 
for this day and one in prospect for the 


morrow. 



CHAPTER III 


A SATURDAY AFTERNOON 

By Friday, Jennie, Dorothy and Edna 
had become quite intimate. Margaret 
was still kept at home by a bad cold, so 
these three little girls layed at recess 
together joined by one or two others who 
had not been invited, or had not chosen, 
to belong to what the rest called “ Clara 
Adams’s set . 9 9 There had been a most in¬ 
teresting talk with Agnes and Celia and 
a plan was proposed which was to be 
started on Saturday afternoon. Jennie 
had been invited to come, and was to go 
home with Dorothy after school to be sent 
for later. 

Edna was full of the new scheme when 
she reached home on Friday, and she was 
38 


A SATURDAY AFTERNOON 


39 


no sooner in the house than she rushed up 
stairs to her mother. “Oh, mother,” she 
cried, “ I am so glad to see you, and I have 
so much to tell you.” 

“Then come right in and tell it,” said 
her mother kissing her. “You don’t look 
as if you had starved on bread and mo¬ 
lasses.” 

Edna laughed. “Nor on rice. I hope 
you will never have rice on Saturdays, 
mother.” 

“Rice is a most wholesome and excel¬ 
lent dish,” returned her mother. “See 
how the Chinese thrive on it. I am think¬ 
ing it would be the very best thing I could 
give my family, for it is both nourishing 
and cheap. Suppose you go down and 
tell Maria to have a large dishful for 
supper instead of what I have ordered.” 

Edna knew her mother was teasing, so 
she cuddled up to her and asked: “What 
did you order, mother?” 



40 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“What should you say to waffles and 
chicken ?” 

“Oh, delicious!” 

“But where is that great thing you 
were going to tell me?” 

“Oh, I forgot. Well, when we got to 
school last Monday, there was Clara 
Adams and all the girls she could get to¬ 
gether and they were whispering in a 
corner. They looked over at me and I 
knew they were talking about me, but I 
didn’t care. Then I went over to Dor¬ 
othy and we just stayed by ourselves all 
the time, for those other girls didn’t 
seem to want to have anything to do with 
us. We hadn’t done one single thing to 
make them act so, but Clara Adams is so 
hateful and jealous and all that, she 
couldn’t bear to have us be liked by any¬ 
body. Dorothy told me she heard her say 
I was a pet and that was the reason I got 
along with my lessons. You know I study 



A SATURDAY AFTERNOON 


41 


real hard, mother, and it isn’t that at all. 
Clara said it was just because Uncle 
Justus favored me, and told Miss Ashurst 
too. Wasn’t that mean ?’ 9 

“I think it was rather mean, but you 
must not mind what a spoiled child like 
Clara says, as long as you know it isn’t 
so.” 

“That’s what Agnes says. We told 
Agnes and Celia how the girls were doing 
and how they had a secret and didn’t 
want us to be in it, so Agnes said we could 
have a secret, too, and she has planned a 
beautiful one, she and Celia. I will tell 
you about it presently. Well, then Jen¬ 
nie Eamsey came.” 

“ Jennie Ramsey ? I don’t think I ever 
heard you speak of her.” 

“No, of course you didn’t, for I 
only just became acquainted with her. 
Mother, don’t you remember the lovely 
Mrs. Ramsey that did so much about 



42 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


getting Margaret into the Home of the 
Friendless ?” 

“I remember, now.” 

44 Well, she is Jennie’s mother, and she 
told Jennie to be sure to speak to me, be¬ 
cause she knows Aunt Elizabeth, I sup¬ 
pose, but anyhow, she did. But first the 
Clara Adams set tried to get Jennie to go 
with them, but she just wouldn’t, and so 
she’s on our side. I know Clara is furi¬ 
ous because the Ramseys are richer than 
the Adamses.” 

“Oh dear, oh dear,” Mrs. Conway in¬ 
terrupted, “this doesn’t sound a bit like 
my little girl talking about one person 
being richer than another and about 
one little girl’s being furious about 
another’s making friends with whom she 
chooses.” 

Edna was silent for a moment. 
“Mother,” she said presently, “it is all 
Clara Adams’s doings. If she wouldn’t 



A SATURDAY AFTERNOON 


43 


speak to us nor let the other girls play 
with us, why, what could we do?” 

“I really don’t know, my darling, we’ll 
talk of that directly. Go on with your 
story.” 

“Well, so Agnes found out they were 
getting up a club and didn’t want us in 
it, so she said we could have a club, too, 
and we’re going to begin this afternoon— 
no, to-morrow afternoon. Mrs. Ramsey 
let Jennie go home with Dorothy to stay 
till to-morrow and she is going to send the 
automobile for her. She comes to school 
in the automobile every morning. I wish 
we had one then we wouldn’t have to stay 
in town all the week.” 

“Dear blessed child, I am afraid Clara 
Adams is turning your head.” 

“Clara? why she doesn’t even speak to 
me.” 

“All the same you are beginning to care 
more for the things that are important to 



44 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


her than ever you did before. Never 
mind, we’ll talk about that later. Is that 
all?” 

“It’s about all, for we haven’t had the 
club meeting yet. Agnes says she will 
start it and be the president for a month. 
Celia is going to be the secretary and 
when we know just what to do and how 
to carry it on then they will resign and 
some of us younger girls will be the offi¬ 
cers.” 

Mrs. Conway smiled to hear all this 
grown-up talk, but she looked a little seri¬ 
ous a moment after. 

Edna watched her face. “Don’t you 
approve of it, mamma,” she asked anx¬ 
iously. 

6 6 Of the club ? Oh, yes, if it is the right 
kind of one. 1 will ask Celia about it, 
but what I don’t like is that you should 
start it in a spirit of trying to get the 
better of another girl, though I can see 



A SATURDAY AFTERNOON 


45 


that it is the most natural thing in the 
world for you to feel as you do, and I can 
see that Clara has really brought it on 
herself, but I do want my dear little girls 
to be charitable and above the petty mean¬ 
ness that is actuating Clara.” 

“Then what do you think we ought to 
do?” 

“I am not sure. I shall have to think 
it over. In the meantime by all means 
start your club. Where is Celia ? ” 

“She went out with the boys to look 
at the new pigeons, but I wanted to see 
you first.” 

Edna enjoyed the prospect of chicken 
and waffles too much to long too ardently 
for the next day. She hadn’t seen Cousin 
Ben yet so she went out to hunt him up, 
but discovering that he was hard at work 
over his studies she concluded not to dis¬ 
turb him but to go with the boys to hear 
them expatiate upon the qualities of the 



46 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


new pigeons, of the trade they had made 
with another boy and of various things 
which had been going on at their school. 

Great preparations were made for the 
first meeting of the club. In the Evans 
house was a large attic, one corner of 
which Agnes and Celia turned into a 
club-room. The house was an old-fash¬ 
ioned one, and the attic window was 
small. There was, too, an odor of cam¬ 
phor and of soap, a quantity of the latter 
being stored up there, but these things did 
not in the least detract from the place in 
the eyes of the girls. What they wanted 
was mystery, a place which was out of the 
way, and one specially set aside for their 
meetings. A small table was dragged out 
of the recesses of the attic. It was rather 
wobbly, but a bit of wood w r as put under 
the faulty leg, and it did very well. One 
perfectly good chair was brought up for 
the president, the rest were content to be 



A SATURDAY AFTERNOON 


47 


seated on whatever came handy, two 
chairs very much gone as to backs, one 
with the bottom entirely through, and a 
rickety camp stool made up the remainder 
of the furniture, but Agnes had taken 
care that there were flowers on the table 
and that pens, pencils and paper were 
supplied. She also brought up some 
books “to make it look more literary,’’ 
she said, and the organizers of the club 
were delighted. 

They came w T hispering and with sup¬ 
pressed giggles up the steep stairway, 
made their way between piles of trunks 
and boxes to where Agnes sat in state, a 
call-bell before her. Margaret, much 
bundled up, had been permitted to join 
them, so they were the respectable num¬ 
ber of six. 

That morning the president and secre¬ 
tary had been closeted for an hour with 
Mrs. Conway and whatever they had de- 



48 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


termined upon in the beginning which 
seemed in the least unworthy was smitten 
from the plan. 

The girls disposed themselves upon the 
various seats, Celia taking a place at the 
end of the table provided for the officers. 
There was much stifling of laughter and 
suppressed whispers before Agnes tapped 
the bell and said in the most dignified 
manner, 4 4 The meeting is called to 
order.” Then each girl smoothed down 
her frock and sat up very straight wait¬ 
ing to hear what should come next. 
“The real object of our club,” Agnes be¬ 
gan, “is to find ways of being kind to our 
schoolmates, but we are going to do other 
things to entertain ourselves, things like 
bringing new games into the club and any 
new book we find particularly interesting. 
If anyone can write a story she is to do 
that, and if anyone hears anything par¬ 
ticularly interesting to tell she is to save 



A SATURDAY AFTERNOON 


49 


it up for the meeting. It has been pro¬ 
posed by Mrs. Conway that we call the 
club the Kindly Club or the Golden Rule. 
Celia, we’d better take a vote on the 
name. You might hand around some 
slips of paper and let the members write 
their choice. There is one thing about it; 
if we call it the Golden Rule Club, we can 
always refer to it as the G. R., and that 
will be rather nice, I think. However, 
you all must vote as you think.” 

There were not quite enough pencils, 
but by judicious borrowing they made 
out and the slips were handed in and 
gravely counted by Celia. “ There are 
four votes for Golden Rule, and two for 
Kindly,” she announced. 

“Then it is a majority for Golden Rule, 
so the name of the club is the Golden 
Rule Club, or the G. R., whichever you 
choose to say when you are speaking of 
it. Now, let me see, oh, yes. We are the 



50 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


charter members. We haven’t any 
charter but we can have one, I reckon. 
I’ll get one ready for next time. Now, 
we must have rules. I haven’t thought 
them all out, but I have two or three. 
We begin with the Golden Rule: ‘Do 
unto others as ye would they should do 
unto you’; Mrs. Conway said we might 
head the list with that, for there was 
nothing better. Of course we all forget 
sometimes, but we mustn’t any more than 
we can help. If we see a chance to do a 
kindness to any of our schoolmates we 
must do it, no matter if we don’t like her, 
and we must try not to get mad with any 
of the girls. We must be nice to the 
teachers, too. You see it is a school club 
and affects all in the school. We big 
girls mustn’t be hateful to you younger 
ones and you mustn’t be saucy to us.” 

“Oh, dear,” sighed Edna, “it’s going 
to be pretty hard, isn’t it?” 



A SATURDAY AFTERNOON 


51 


“I don’t believe it is going to be as 
much fun as the other girls’ club,” com¬ 
plained Dorothy. 

“Oh, yes it is. You wait and see,” 
said Agnes. “After a while everyone of 
them will be dying to come into ours.” 

“Oh, Agnes, I don’t believe a bit of 
that,” said Dorothy. 

“Oh, but you see we are going to have 
very good times, you forget that part. 
The kind word part is only when we are 
having dealings with our schoolmates 
and all that. We don’t have to do just 
that and nothing else. For example, I 
have the loveliest sort of story to read to 
you all just as soon as the business part 
of the meeting is over, and then we are 
to have refreshments.” \ 

“Oh, good!” there was emphatic en¬ 
dorsement of this. 

“There ought to be fines, I suppose,” 
Agnes went on. “Let me see, what shall 




52 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


we be fined for? I shall have to get 
some light upon that, too, but I think it 
would be a good plan that any girl who 
voluntarily stirs up a fuss with another 
at school must pay a fine of not less than 
one cent. What do you think of that, 
Celia?” 

“I should think that might be a good 
plan though I expect we shall all turn 
Quakers if we continue the club.” 

Agnes laughed. “It does look that 
way. At all events we are to thank Clara 
Adams for it all. Her club is founded 
on unkindness and if we want to be a 
rival, Mrs. Conway says we must have 
ours founded on kindness.” 

“Do you know anything about her 
club?” asked Jennie. 

“I know a little. I believe only girls 
who live in a certain neighborhood can 
belong to it. All others are to be turned 
down, and are to be left out of the plays 



A SATURDAY AFTERNOON 


53 


at recess. It is something like that, I was 
told. However, we don’t care anything 
about those poor little sillies. We shall 
enjoy ourselves much more. I think 
we’d better not attend to any business 
to-day or we shall not have time for any¬ 
thing else. Have you made the minutes, 
Celia?” 

“Yes, I think I have, and if I haven’t 
everything I can get you to tell me after¬ 
wards.” 

“I suppose we should vote for the 
officers,” said Agnes, after a moment’s 
thought. 

“Oh, no, don’t let’s,” said Edna, 
anxious for the story. “We all want 
you for president and Celia for secretary, 
don’t we, girls?” 

“All in favor of making Miss Agnes 
Evans president of the club will please 
rise,” sang out Celia, and every girl 
arose to her feet. “That’s unanimous 



54 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


enough,” said Celia. “Now all in favor 
of my being secretary will please rise.” 
Another unanimous vote followed this 
and so the matter was speedily settled. 

Then Agnes produced a manuscript 
paper and read them the most delightful 
of stories which was received with great 
applause. Then she whispered some¬ 
thing to Dorothy who nodded understand- 
ingly, retired to the back of the attic and 
returned with two plates, one of delicious 
little cakes and the other of caramels to 
which full justice was done. 

“What about the places of meeting and 
the refreshments?” asked Celia. “It 
isn’t fair for you always to furnish them 
and don’t you think we should meet at 
different houses?” 

“Perhaps so, only you see it would be 
hard for us to go into the city on Satur¬ 
days after coming out on Friday, and you 
see Jennie lives in town.” 



A SATURDAY AFTERNOON 


55 


“Oh, but Mack can always bring me 
out in the motor car,” said Jennie, 
“though of course I should love to have 
you all come in to my house and so would 
mamma like it.” 

“Well, we’ll meet at your house, Celia, 
the next time,” said Agnes, and after 
that at Mrs. MacDonald’s. We can, can’t 
we, Margaret?” 

“Oh, yes, I am sure she will be per¬ 
fectly delighted. She is so pleased about 
the club, anyhow.” 

“Then in the meantime we can be 
making up our minds about your house, 
Jennie,” said Agnes. 

“I wish we had some little song or a 
sentence to close with,” said Celia. 

“We can have. We can do all those 
things later. I think we have done a 
great deal for one day, don’t you all think 
so?” 

“Oh, my, yes,” was the hearty re- 



56 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


sponse. 4 ‘It has been perfectly lovely.” 

“We might sing, ‘Little Drops of 
Water/ for this time,” proposed Edna, 
“as long as we haven’t any special song 
yet.” 

“That will do nicely, especially that 
part about Tittle deeds of kindness.’ 
We’re going to sing. All rise.” And 
the meeting was closed, the members 
groping their way down the attic stairs 
which by now were quite dark. But the 
effect of the club was to be far-reaching 
as was afterward shown, though it was 
little suspected at the time of its forma¬ 
tion. 



CHAPTER IV 

A THANKSGIVING DINNER 

The first direct effect of the club was 
far from pleasant to Edna, for she for¬ 
got all about studying a certain lesson, and 
did not remember about it till she and 
Dorothy met at school on Monday morn¬ 
ing, and then she was overcome with 
fear lest she should be called upon to 
recite something of which she knew 
scarcely anything. However, by dint of 
peeps at the book between whiles, after 
devoting to t all the time she had before 
school was called to order, she managed 
to get through the recitation, yet not 
without many misgivings and a rapid 
beating of the heart when Miss Ashurst 
57 


58 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


called upon her. Edna was always such 
a conscientious child about her lessons 
that Miss Ashurst rather overlooked the 
fact that upon this occasion she was not 
quite as glib as usual, and she took her 
seat with a feeling of great relief, deter¬ 
mining that she would not forget her 
lessons another Saturday. 

There was more than one opportunity 
that day to exercise the rule of the G. R. 
Club, and the girls of the Neighborhood 
Club, as they called theirs, were a little 
surprised at the appearance of good-will 
shown by the others. 

“Oh, I know just what they are up to,” 
Clara Adams told her friends; “they 
want to get in with us and are being extra 
sweet. I know that is exactly their trick. 
Don’t you girls pay any attention to 
them. Of course we could let Jennie 
Ramsey in, because she lives on our 
street, but the others, we couldn’t any 



A THANKSGIVING DINNER 59 


more than we could Betty Lowndes or 
Jessie Hill.” 

“Well, it seems to me if they are good 
enough for Jennie Bamsey to go with 
they are good enough for us,” returned 
Nellie Haskell. 

“No, I’m not going to have them,” 
replied Clara, “and if you choose to go 
over to them, Nellie Haskell, you can just 
make up your mind that I’ll have no 
more to do with you.” So Nellie suc¬ 
cumbed although she did smile upon 
Dorothy when the two met and was most 
pleasant when Edna offered to show her 
about one of the lessons. 

Agnes advised that the girls make no 
secret of their club. “It is nothing to be 
ashamed of, I am sure,” she said, “and if 
any of the girls want to join it I am sure 
they are quite welcome to.” And indeed 
it did appeal so strongly to some of the 
older girls that before the week was out 



60 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


several new members were enrolled, and 
it was decided to change the time of meet¬ 
ing to Friday afternoon so that those in 
the city might have their convenience con¬ 
sidered while the girls living in the 
country could easily stay in till a later 
hour. 

The little girls felt themselves rather 
overpowered by the coming into their 
ranks of so many older members, but on 
the other hand they felt not a little flat¬ 
tered at being important enough to belong 
to the same club, so as the rule worked 
both ways it made it all right, especially 
as Betty Lowndes and others were 
admitted and were no older than them¬ 
selves. 

“They may have more in number,” 
said Clara when she was told of how the 
club was increasing, “but we are more 
exclusive, my mother says.” 

This remark made its impression as 



A THANKSGIVING DINNER 61 


Clara intended it should, though Nellie 
looked wistfully across at where half a 
dpzen little girls were joyously eating 
their lunch and discussing the good times 
the elder girls were planning. “You 
know,” Agnes had told them, “if you 
want to become a junior branch of the 
same club it will be perfectly easy for 
you to do it. At the end of a month you 
can decide, though Helen Darby and 
Florence Gittings agree with me that 
there is no reason why we shouldn’t all 
hang together. It will be more conven¬ 
ient for one thing and we can take turns 
in arranging the entertainment part. I 
don’t see why we all shouldn’t enjoy 
some of the same kind of things.” 

“Oh, we’d much rather stay in,” 
replied Edna. ‘ ‘ At least I would. ’ ’ 

“I would! I would!” came from all 
the others. 

Although there is a high and marked 



62 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


difference between fifteen and eight or 
nine, in most matters, in this of the club 
there appeared to be a harmony which 
put them all on the same footing. The 
older sisters were more ready to help the 
younger ones with their lessons while the 
younger ones were more eager to run on 
errands or to wait on the older ones, in 
consequence there was a benefit all 
around. 

Of course Miss Ashurst and Mr. Hor¬ 
ner were by no means unaware of what 
was going on and they smiled to see how 
pleasant an atmosphere prevailed in the 
school all except in the unfortunate 
Neighborhood Club which they would 
have gladly disbanded. “It will proba¬ 
bly die of its own discontent,’’ said Miss 
Ashurst to the principal, “I give it just 
three months to exist for the girls are 
dropping out one by one.” 

Mr. Horner smiled and nodded his 



A THANKSGIVING DINNER 63 


head. He was a man of few words yet 
very little escaped his keen eyes. 

The next meeting of the G. R.’s was 
even more successful than the first. A 
number of things were discussed and the 
little girls learned many things that they 
had not known before. 

“ Suppose Clara Adams did want to 
come into the club or wanted to be friends 
I suppose we’d have to be kind to her,” 
said Dorothy, a little regretfully. 

“Of course you’d have to be kind to 
her,” said Helen Darby, “but you 
wouldn’t have to clasp her around the 
neck and hang on her words, nor even 
visit her. One can be kind without 
being intimate.” 

This was putting it in rather a new 
light and the little girls looked at one 
another. They had not easily distin¬ 
guished the difference before this. 

“The same way about Mr. Horner,” 



64 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


Helen went on, “you don’t have to get 
down and tie Lis shoes, but if you do have 
a chance to do something to make things 
pleasanter for him, why just trot along 
and do it.” And Helen nodded her head 
emphatically. 

“Dear oh, me,” sighed Florence, “we 
are getting our standards way up. I 
should probably fall all over myself if 
I attempted to do anything for him. I 
am almost scared to death at the mere 
thought.” 

“He won’t bite you,” replied Helen, 
“and you don’t have to get close enough 
to him to comb his eyebrows. "What I 
mean is that we can ‘be diligent and 
studious’ as the old copy-books used to 
have it, speak well of his school, and not 
carry tales home that will make our 
families think we are martyrs and that 
he is an ogre, or someone to be feared 
constantly.” 



A THANKSGIVING DINNER 65 


“Helen Darby! I’d like to know who 
has been giving you all these new ideas,” 
said Florence. 

“Why, I think Mrs. Conway started 
them by the way she talked to Agnes, and 
I have a modest claim to some brains of 
my own, so I thought out the rest and 
talked it over with father who put things 
very clearly before me, and showed me 
that school-girls are half the time silly 
geese who seem to think their teachers 
are created for the mere purpose of mak¬ 
ing their lives miserable. Father said 
that the shoe was usually on the other 
foot, and that the girls were much more 
liable to make the teachers’ lives miser¬ 
able. That set me a-thinking. Let me 
remark in passing that father says he 
thinks our club is great, and he wants to 
have a hand in furnishing the entertain¬ 
ing some time.” 

This announcement made quite a ripple 



66 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


of excitement, for Mr. Darby did nothing 
by halves and it was expected that there 
would be a good time for the G. R. ’s when 
they met at Helen’s house. 

Edna kept in mind what had been said 
about Uncle Justus and before very long 
came an opportunity to prove her powers 
of doing him a kindness. It was just 
before Thanksgiving that Mrs. Conway 
came in one Thursday afternoon to see 
Aunt Elizabeth and of course her own two 
little daughters as well. Edna sat very 
close to her mother on the sofa, her hand 
stroking the smooth kid glove she wore. 

It was a queer thing to have her mother 
for company, but it was very delightful, 
too. 

“I hope you and Uncle Justus can 
come out to take Thanksgiving dinner 
with us,” said Mrs. Conway to her aunt. 

“ Thank you, my dear, but I am afraid 
it is impossible,” was the response. “I 



A THANKSGIVING DINNER 67 


long ago promised to go to sister Julia’s, 
and hoped Justus would go, too, but he 
insists that he cannot possibly take the 
time, for it is something of a trip. He 
says he has some school papers he must 
attend to, and moreover, has promised to 
address a meeting in the afternoon, so 
that it will be impossible.” 

“I am very sorry,” returned Mrs. Con¬ 
way, “for we had quite counted on you 
both. Perhaps Uncle Justus can take 
the time to come to us even if he cannot 
go so far as Aunt Julia’s.” 

Mrs. Horner shook her head. “I am 
afraid not, but you can ask him. Julia 
will be greatly disappointed, but you know 
Justus is nothing if not conscientious 
and if he has made up his mind he ought 
not to go, nothing will alter his deci¬ 
sion.” 

“What time is his meeting?” asked 
Mrs. Conway. 



68 A DEAlJ little girl at school 


“At half past two, I believe.” 

“Oh, dear, then I am afraid it will be 
difficult for him to get to us, or rather 
to get away. We are to have dinner at 
two rather than in the evening, partly 
on account of the children and partly on 
account of the maids, to whom I have 
promised the time after they have finished 
the necessary work. There is a train at 
two-forty-five, but that would be too late, 
and it takes nearly an hour by the trolley 
cars.” 

“Then I am afraid he will have to dine 
alone,” said Mrs. Horner. “I don’t sup¬ 
pose he has ever done such a thing in his 
life as that, but it cannot be helped. 
Julia has few opportunities of seeing her 
family and he insists that I must not 
think of disappointing her on his ac¬ 
count.” 

Edna listened very soberly to all this, 
and when it was learned later that noth- 



A THANKSGIVING DINNER 69 


ing could alter Uncle Justus’s decision, 
she felt very sorry for him. She took 
occasion to open up the subject herself 
that afternoon. “Uncle Justus,” she 
asked, “did you ever eat Thanksgiving 
dinner alone?” 

Uncle Justus looked at her over his 
spectacles. “Well, no, I cannot say that 
I ever did.” 

“Shall you like to do it?” 

“No, I do not believe I shall particu¬ 
larly enjoy it, but duty must come before 
pleasure, you know.” 

“I wish you were going to have dinner 
with us.” 

“That would be very agreeable to me, 
but I fear I cannot think of it upon this 
occasion.” 

Edna sighed. She had hoped he might 
reconsider it. When he had left the 
room she went out into the kitchen to see 
Ellen of whom she was very fond. 



70 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“Ellen,” she said “are you going to stay 
in and cook Uncle Justus’s Thanksgiving 
dinner for him?” 

“I am thot. It’ll not be much of a job 
I ’ll be havin ’ ayther. ’ ’ 

“Why? Isn’t he going to have a real 
Thanksgiving dinner ? ’ ’ 

“She was tellin’ me this mornin’ thot 
it would be aisy, and I cud have me 
afthernoon the same as usual, for he’d not 
be in. Says she, 6 a bit av a chicken will 
do and ye can make a pumpkin pie the 
day before, so what with a few pertaties 
and a taste of stewed tomats he’ll do 
bravely.” 

“Oh dear!” Edna sighed again as she 
thought of all that would be served at 
her own home table. Her little face wore 
a very serious and troubled look every 
time she looked at Uncle Justus that even¬ 
ing and the next day at recess she 
unburdened her heart to Dorothy and 



A THANKSGIVING DINNER 71 


Jennie. These three always ate their 
lunch together and they took this oppor¬ 
tunity for many a confidence. 

“Girls,” Edna began smoothing down 
her frock and folding her hands. “I 
have a chance to do Uucle Justus a kind¬ 
ness and I can’t make up my mind to do 
it. I’m afraid I’m awfully selfish.” 

Dorothy laughed. “I’d like to see any¬ 
body who’s less so, wouldn’t you, Jen¬ 
nie?” 

“I certainly would. Edna, tell us 
about it. ’ ’ 

“Well, you see Uncle Justus has things 
to do so he can’t go with Aunt Elizabeth 
to her sister’s and he hasn’t even time to 
come to us for Thanksgiving, and he 
will have to eat his dinner all alone, 
unless—unless I stay and keep him com¬ 
pany.” 

“Oh, Edna, and you couldn’t be with 
your family last year because you were 



72 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


here . 7 7 Dorothy 7 s tones were almost awe¬ 
stricken. 

“I know, and of course I am dying to 
be at home, and that 7 s where the being 
selfish comes in. I keep thinking how I 
should hate to eat my dinner alone and 
every time I look at Uncle Justus I feel 
so sorry for him I can hardly stand it, 
then when I think of not going home I 
feel so sorry for myself I can scarcely 
stand that . 77 

Both girls were silent. They saw the 
opportunity for heroic sacrifice as well 
as Edna did, but they could not advise her 
either way; it was too weighty a question, 
though Jennie ventured, “If he is going 
to be busy all the time you would be all 
by yourself except at dinner . 77 

“Yes , 77 Edna nodded, “and Ellen is 
going out after she gets the dishes done, 
but I suppose I could go home after that. 
She could put me on the trolley and I 7 d 



A THANKSGIVING DINNER 


73 


get home in an hour. I thought about 
that.” 

4 ‘So, then it wouldn’t be like staying 
all day, would it?” said Dorothy, brighten¬ 
ing a little as she saw this much light 
upon the matter. 

“Yes, of course that would make a 
great difference,” returned Edna. 

“Or,” Jennie had a sudden brilliant 
thought. “Oh, Edna, I wonder if you 
couldn’t come to my house and stay all 
night with me. I should be so delighted 
to have you and I know mother would, 
too. We aren’t to have our Thanksgiv¬ 
ing dinner till six, so you could have 
two.” 

Edna looked quite happy as this plan 
was suggested. What girl of nine does 
not delight in such an experience as 
spending the night with a friend? The 
thought of two Thanksgiving dinners, 
though one might be rather a frugal one, 



74 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


had its charm, too. “I think that would 
be perfectly lovely,” she said, then after 
a moment’s thought, “but you must ask 
your mother first and I’ll ask mine.” 

“I’ll ask her as soon as I go home and 
will tell you at the club meeting this after¬ 
noon, and then you can ask your mother 
when you get home and let me know on 
Monday. I just know what mother will 
say before I ask her.” 

Then the bell rang and recess was over, 
but Edna returned to her lessons very 
happy at this solution of what had been a 
matter of deep thought. It turned out 
just as Jennie had prophesied, for she 
brought a veritable invitation to Edna 
that afternoon in * the shape of a little 
note, and she further said that Mrs. Ram¬ 
sey meant to make sure by writing a 
formal request to Mrs. Conway, there¬ 
fore Edna considered the matter as good 
as settled. 



A THANKSGIVING DINNER 75 


She was full of the subject that after¬ 
noon when she reached home. It was 
quite dark although she and the others 
had taken the train which brought them 
more quickly. The club meetings were 
so interesting that it was hard to get away 
in time, but Mrs. Conway was on the 
watch as the girls came in the gate. Of 
course Edna had told Celia about all this, 
and indeed it had been talked over at the 
club, all the girls agreeing that it was a 
perfectly lovely thing for Edna to do, so 
she came in quite exalted by all the 
approval. 

However, when she told her tale and 
her mother saw that it was a case of gen¬ 
uine desire to do a good deed, and that in 
the beginning it had appeared in the light 
of a heavier sacrifice than could be made 
easily, she felt that she could allow the 
child to do as she wished, being sure that 
it was not in a spirit of self-righteous- 



76 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


ness. And so, on the evening before 
Thanksgiving after Uncle Justus had 
returned from seeing Mrs. Horner safely 
on her journey to her sister’s, he saw a 
little figure watching for him at the win¬ 
dow. 

“Well, well, well, little girl,” he said, 
“how is this? I thought you would have 
been at home before now.” 

“I’m not going till Friday,” replied 
Edna smiling up at him. “I’m going to 
stay and have Thanksgiving dinner with 
you.” 

“What? What? What?” Uncle Jus¬ 
tus frowned and shook his head, but he 
took off his spectacles and wiped them 
very vigorously. 

“Yes, I am.” Edna was very decided. 
“Mother said I might, and oh, Uncle 
Justus, she knew Aunt Elizabeth would 
be away and she thought maybe you and 
I would like some of our Thanksgiving, 



A THANKSGIVING DINNER 77 


so she has sent some of her goodies, and 
we’re going to have a lovely time. I am 
going to help Ellen set the table and wipe 
the dishes.” 

“But, my child, I cannot allow it. No, 
no, no.” 

“Oh, but, please.” The more Uncle 
Justus denied, the more anxious was 
Edna. 

“But, my child, it would be selfish and 
inconsiderate of me in the extreme to 
take you away from your family on a 
holiday. I know what it means to little 
people to have such treats, and to an old 
fellow like me it will not make such a dif¬ 
ference.” 

“But you told me you had never had a 
Thanksgiving dinner alone.” 

“That is quite true, but it is no reason 
why I should call upon a little girl like 
you to give up the holiday to me.” 

“Don’t you want me to stay?” asked 



78 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


Edna wistfully, and feeling a little hurt 
lest after all, her sacrifice was not really 
needed. 

Then Uncle Justus did a rare thing. 
He sat down, put his arm around her ana 
kissed her on the cheek. “My dear little 
girl,” he replied, “if that is the way you 
feel, I can only say that I am delighted 
beyond measure that you want to stay, 
and you will give me a greater cause for 
thanksgiving than I have expected or 
deserved,” and he drew her to his knee. 

Edna smiled as she wondered what 
Florence Gittings, or any of the other 
girls, for that matter, would say if they 
could see her then so extremely near the 
fierce eyebrows. 

“But what will you do in the after¬ 
noon?” asked Uncle Justus after a 
moment. “I must go out early, you see.” 

“I know that. At first I thought I 
would get Ellen to put me on the cars to 



A THANKSGIVING DINNER 


79 


go home. It would be quite safe, for I 
have gone so many times, but Jennie 
Ramsey and her mother have invited me 
to come there to stay all night. I’ll come 
back here on Friday, if you would like me 
to, Uncle Justus. I could stay till Aunt 
Elizabeth comes home.” 

Uncle Justus was silent for a moment. 
He smoothed her hair thoughtfully and 
then he said gently. “Your mother very 
kindly has asked me to spend the v r eek 
end with you all, so suppose we go out 
together on Friday afternoon. I can 
take my papers with me and do my neces¬ 
sary work on Saturday there as well as 
here. Your little club meets on Friday 
afternoon, doesn’t it? I will meet you 
and Celia at the station in time for the 
four-thirty train, which is the one you 
usually take, isn’t it?” 

Edna was surprised that Uncle Justus 
should know all this about the club and 



80 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


the time of their going home, but she 
didn’t say ,so. “I think that will be a 
very nice plan, ’ ’ she told him. “ I ’ll come 
back here on Friday morning and have 
dinner with you, and then I can go to the 
club meeting. It is to be at Helen 
Darby’s this time, and that is very near, 
you know.” The twilight gathered about 
the two and in the dim light Uncle Justus 
did not appear in the least a person to 
stand in awe of, for when Ellen came to 
call them to supper she was surprised to 
see the little girl still sitting on the old 
man’s knee, his arm around her and her 
head on his shoulder. 



CHAPTER ^ 

IN A BLIZZARD 

The enjoyment of helping Ellen, of 
setting the table and of being consulted 
on such important subjects as whether the 
best china and the finest tablecloth should 
be used almost made up to Edna for being 
away from home on Thanksgiving day. 
The basket sent by Mrs. Conway con¬ 
tained several things which made the 
dinner much more of a feast than it 
would otherwise have been, for there was 
a jar of tomato soup, a small chicken pie 
with scalloped leaves and little balls of 
crust on top, some delicious pickles, a 
glass of currant jelly and another of cran¬ 
berry sauce. Margaret had brought in a 
bunch of cut flowers from Mrs. MacDon- 
81 


82 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


aid’s greenhouse, the day before and 
these set in the middle of the table were 
a lovely ornament. 

“It’s the foinest lookin’ table iver I 
saw in this house,” said Ellen when Edna 
called her in to see. “What was it yez 
were sayin’ about thim little toasty crusts 
for the soup. I’d be afther makin’ thim 
if I cud know wanst.” 

“Oh, I can tell you just how,” said 
Edna, “for I have watched our cook make 
them.” She felt very important to be 
overseeing this piece of cookery and went 
in to call her uncle, feeling very much 
pleased at what had been accomplished. 

“Well, well, well,” exclaimed Uncle 
Justus, “this does look like holiday times. 
Who did all this?” 

“Ellen and I,” Edna told him, “and it 
was lots of fun.” 

Uncle Justus nodded. “I dare say,” 
he said with a smile, as he sat down. 



IN A BLIZZARD 


83 


It was really a merrier repast than 
Edna had ever eaten under that roof, for 
instead of eating his dinner in silence as 
he generally did, Uncle Justus was quite 
talkative and actually attempted to joke 
once in a while. When Ellen was taking 
away the plates before she served the 
dessert, the old gentleman arose. “I 
think, ” he said, 6 6 that this is just the 
occasion to open that jar of ginger Cap¬ 
tain Doane sent me awhile ago.” So he 
went to his own special cupboard, un¬ 
locked the door and brought forth the 
wicker bound ginger jar which had been 
there several weeks, and it is safe to say 
Edna was given her share. 

“A famous dinner,” said Uncle Justus 
as he rose from the table. “I can’t 
remember that I ever had a pleasanter 
one, and I have you to thank for it, my 
dear. Now, I am afraid I shall have to 
go to my meeting, but I know you have 



84 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 

an agreeable plan for the evening, so I do 
not feel the reluctance in leaving that I 
should otherwise.” 

Edna helped him on with his overcoat, 
handed him his walking stick and saw 
him off, standing in the door, and hoping 
he would look back. He did this giving 
her a smile and nod as she waved her 
hand. Then she went back to Ellen and 
together they did the dishes very care¬ 
fully. After this both must get dressed, 
and an hour later they were about to start 
when the bell rang and Ellen opened the 
door to Jennie Eamsey. 

“I thought I’d just come for you in the 
motor car,” she said. “Mother said 
Mack could take us for a little ride in the 
fresh air so we would have a better ap¬ 
petite for dinner.” 

This was quite exciting, for Edna’s 
opportunities for riding in an automobile 
were not many. 




IN A BLIZZARD 


85 


The magnificence of the Ramsey’s 
dinner far outdid Aunt Elizabeth’s, but 
Edna did not enjoy it one whit the more, 
although it was very delightful to be 
served by a man in livery, and to have 
such exquisite china and glass to look 
at during the meal. The child felt a 
little shy in the presence of so many 
strangers, and had little to say. More¬ 
over, she had too often been told by Aunt 
Elizabeth that “ little children should be 
seen and not heard” for her not to remem¬ 
ber she must not chatter. Really the best 
time came when she and Jennie went up 
to bed when Jennie showed her all her 
treasures, her pretty room and her rows 
of books. They became very confidential 
as they snuggled down under the covers, 
and when Mrs. Ramsey came in to kiss 
them both good-night, Edna felt much 
happier than had seemed possible she 
could be when she first considered that 



86 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


she must spend the day and night away 
from her mother. 

The club meeting at Helen Darby’s the 
next day was a fine affair, too, for Mr. 
Darby had provided an entertainment 
which pleased them all. A wonderful 
juggler did all sorts of curious tricks and 
a young man sang the drollest of songs. 
Then, too, the refreshments were unusu¬ 
ally good. It had been made an inviola¬ 
ble rule that not more than three articles 
were to be served, but when there were 
ice-cream, delicious cakes and bon-bons, 
surely these were quite enough. 

4 ‘You see,” said Helen in explanation, 
after some of the girls had protested, 
“father said this was a holiday meeting 
and it might be a little more elaborate, he 
thought.” 

Uncle Justus took Edna and Celia home 
that evening, and if he did not enjoy his 
visit it was not the fault of the girls. It 



IN A BLIZZARD 


87 


is probable the old gentleman had rarely 
had such attentions and such a fuss made 
over him. He was invited to the Evans’s 
to supper on Saturday and to Mrs. Mac¬ 
Donald’s to dinner on Sunday. He was 
taken to drive; he was invited to walk, 
and really was quite overcome by all this 
thought of him from the members of the 
G. R. Club. 

Monday morning saw everyone but Ce¬ 
lia back at school. Celia having had too 
much Thanksgiving, or too much some¬ 
thing was not able to go, and indeed, had 
to remain at home for the entire week, 
and it seemed very much like the old days 
to Edna when she had to stay at Uncle 
Justus’s without her sister. Aunt Eliza¬ 
beth returned home on Monday afternoon, 
quite i6 smoothed out” Edna told her 
mother afterward. So the week sped 
along in the old way till Friday after¬ 


noon. 



88 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


It had begun to snow a little when Edna 
started out to the club meeting which was 
held at Florence Gittings’s. The little 
girl had no fear, however, for she expected 
to meet Dorothy and Agnes and go home 
with them, but for some reason neither 
was present. Later on it was learned that 
Mr. Evans had called for them at their 
aunt’s and had taken them home fearing 
a heavy storm would prevent their going 
later. A telegram which they sent to 
Edna at Florence Gittings’s was not de¬ 
livered till after the child had left the 
house. 

“You aren’t going off by yourself,” 
said Florence when the club meeting was 
over. It had seemed rather a poor little 
affair after the brilliancy of Helen’s en¬ 
tertainment, and with both Agnes and Ce¬ 
lia missing. However they had all done 
their best, but it broke up rather earlier 
than usual. 



IN A BLIZZARD 


89 


“Oh, I must go,” said Edna. “I am 
sure Agnes and Dorothy will be at the 
railway station, and we can all go out 
together.” 

“But it is snowing so hard and the wind 
is making the snow drift,” continued 
Florence. 

“Oh, but the cars go all the way to the 
station. I won’t have to walk, and very 
likely mother will send one of the boys, 
Cousin Ben, perhaps, to meet me.” 

“I wish we had a telephone,” said 
Florence, “but we haven’t, and I suppose 
you can telephone from the station if you 
want to.” 

“I might do that,” said Edna. 

“I think you’d better go back to your 
Uncle Horner’s,” suggested Helen. 

“Oh, but—” Edna did not want to do 
this. A whole week at the school without 
Celia was about all she thought she could 
stand. “I shall do all right,” she in- 



90 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


sisted. “I’m sure the girls will be at the 
station.” So the others saw her depart 
without urging her further. 

Owing to the snow which was drifting 
heavily, the cars were running much more 
slowly than usual, and w T hen Edna reached 
the station her train had just gone. It 
was the train her father always took and 
she had hoped to see him. She decided 
to telephone and took out her purse to see 
what money she had. Alas! she had but 
ten cents, not enough for an out-of-town 
toll. She had her school ticket fortu¬ 
nately. Celia was the one who always 
carried the money for the expenses, and 
Edna remembered that her mother had 
told her to be sure to provide herself with 
enough. “If you find you run short,” 
she told the child, “either send down to 
your father for some change or borrow 
it from Aunt Elizabeth.” 

Edna would rather have done almost 



IN A BLIZZARD 


91 


anything than borrow from Aunt Eliza¬ 
beth and she had forgotten to look in her 
purse anyhow, before starting. “Even if 
I had,” she told herself, “I would have 
thought I had enough for I didn’t expect 
to need anything but car fare.” The next 
train would leave at five, but as it was a 
short run Edna thought she might ven¬ 
ture to take it, even though it might be 
dark when she reached the station. • She 
could telephone to the house from there, 
if necessary. So she waited patiently till 
it should be time for her train to be ready 
and then she went out and took her seat. 
It was snowing desperately hard she 
noticed as they moved along, and the train 
stopped frequently, but at last she reached 
her own station and got off feeling very 
thankful to be this near home. She 
looked around; not a soul was there to 
meet her. She would have to telephone. 
She turned toward the waiting-room, but 



92 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


to lier consternation found the door 
locked. 

There was not a soul in sight. She 
stood still for a while. It was getting 
colder, and the snow was drifting and 
swirling around at a great rate. What 
should she do? The station master had 
probably gone home to his supper, for 
there were no more trains till nearly six 
o ’clock from either direction. He had not 
counted on his presence being needed be¬ 
tween whiles once he had seen to his 
freight and baggage, and he had gone to 
the back of the building where he lived. 

It was not more than a ten minutes’ 
walk to her home in good weather, and 
Edna at last thought she would venture. 
She pulled her hat down over her ears 
and her coat collar up around her neck 
and started. It was desperate walking 
here in the country where the sharp wind 
seemed to search out every unprotected 



IN A BLIZZARD 


93 


part of the body. The snow nearly 
blinded her, and cut her face like a knife. 
Every little while she had to stop to get 
breath, and as she found the difficulties 
increasing she thought of all the stories 
she had heard of persons perishing in the 
snow a few yards from their own door¬ 
ways. “I wish I had gone back to Uncle 
Justus,” she murmured. “Oh, dear, I 
don’t believe I will ever get there.” 

The whiteness of the snow made it 
possible for her to see a little of the way 
when she first started, but as she went on 
and it grew darker she began to wonder 
if she were in the road. She brushed 
away the stinging flakes and looked 
around, peering into the darkness gather¬ 
ing around her. Through the blinding, 
hurrying flakes she could see twinkling 
lights here and there, and presently she 
located the piece of woods just beyond 
her own home, but it was far to the left, 



94 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


and she realized that she had turned into 
a by-road instead of keeping to the main 
one. The tears began to course down her 
cheeks when she appreciated how far she 
was from her own house. “I can never 
go back,” she sobbed. “I can’t. I am 
so cold and so tired, I’m afraid I can’t 
get there. It would never do to stand 
still,” she realized and presently she made 
up her mind to struggle on toward the 
nearest light a little ahead. 

She bowed her head again and pressed 
on through the drifts, feeling her strength 
would do no more than get her to this 
refuge. At last it was reached, a little 
house, by the wayside, a tiny garden in 
front and a small cow-shed behind. Man¬ 
aging to get the gate open, Edna went 
upon the porch and knocked at the door. 

It was opened by a little girl about her 
own age. “Why,” she exclaimed, “who 
is it ? I thought you were mother. 



IN A BLIZZAKD 


95 


Come right in out of the storm. Isn’t it 
a dreadful one?” 

Edna, scarce able to speak, tottered into 
the room, warm from a bright fire in a 
base-burner stove and cheerful by reason 
of a lighted lamp. 

“You are all covered with snow,” the 
little girl went on. 4 ‘Do come to the fire 
and take off your hat and coat. You 
must be nearly frozen and I expect your 
feet are wet and cold. I’ll take off your 
shoes.” 

She stooped down and began to un¬ 
fasten the snowy shoes after removing 
the rubbers Edna had been fortunate 
enough to have put on. 

In a moment the wanderer was able to 
tell her story, and to thank her little 
hostess for her attentions. “I don’t 
know what I am going to do,” she said. 
“I’m afraid I can’t get home, and there 
isn’t any way to send them word to come 



96 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


for me. Of course they will think I have 
stayed in the city. If I had known how 
bad the storm was going to be I would 
never have started, but I did want to see 
my mother. ’’ 

“And I want to see my mother,’’ re¬ 
plied her hostess. “She went down the 
road this morning to see my aunt who is 
ill, and she was coming back on this train 
that got in a little while ago, the train you 
must have come on.” 

“I didn’t see anyone get off,” Edna 
told her, “only two or three men who got 
into a wagon and drove off before I left 
the station. Most everyone I know 
comes out on the train before that, but I 
missed it, you see.” 

“Well, I am very glad to have you 
here, ’ ’ said the other. ‘ ‘ If mother did not 
come on that train she won’t come at all, 
I am sure, for the next ones don’t stop 
at my aunt’s station, and I should have 



IN A BLIZZARD 


97 


been here all alone. What is your 
name ? ’ ’ 

“My name is Edna Conway, and I live 
on the main road just this side of that 
piece of woods you see after you pass 
Mrs. MacDonald’s. Hers is the big gray 
house with the greenhouses, you know.” 

“Oh, yes I know it very well. My 
name is Nettie Black. My mother and I 
live here just by ourselves since my 
father died.” 

“Oh,” Edna felt very sorry that Nettie 
was fatherless, but she did not know ex¬ 
actly what to say about it. “Will your 
mother be worried about your being here 
alone?” she asked after a moment. 

“I s’pose she will, but it can’t be helped. 
I know she would have come if she could. 
I only hope my aunt isn’t worse. I wish 
she could know l am not to be alone.” 

“And I wish my mother knew I was 
safe,” returned Edna. “I am sure, 



98 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


though, that she thinks I am at my 
uncle’s in the city, and I hope she does 
think so.” 

“Are you quite warm, now?” asked 
Nettie. “If you are we will have some 
supper.” 

“Oh, you are very kind,” returned 
Edna a little embarrassed. “I think it 
is very hard on you to have me come in 
this way like a stray cat.” 

Nettie laughed. “I like stray cats, and 
we always take them in. There is a 
lovely one in the kitchen, now, that we 
make a great pet of. He came to us so 
thin and miserable, but now he is as fat 
as butter.” 

“I’d love to see him,” returned Edna, 
“and won’t you let me help you get 
supper?” 

“There isn’t so very much to get,” re¬ 
turned Nettie a little shamefacedly. 
“There is only bread and butter and what 



IN A BLIZZARD 


99 


is left of the rice-pudding I had for 
dinner. We could toast the bread, and 
there’s milk. If you don’t mind my tak¬ 
ing part of the milk for it, I could have 
milk-toast and we could drink cambric 
tea.” 

“I like cambric tea,” replied Edna, 
“and I am very fond of milk-toast. Oh, 
dear, I am so thankful to be here instead 
of out in the cold.” 

“I am thankful, too. I’ll go out and 
make the toast. Will you come?” 

Edna was pleased enough to do this, to 
make the acquaintance of the big black 
cat, and to help make the toast. “I don’t 
see how you will ever know how to make 
the dip part,” she said to Nettie. 

“Oh, but I do know. Mother taught 
me, and I can do it very well. The great 
thing is not to let the milk bum and to 
put in only the least little bit of thicken¬ 
ing.” 



100 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


Edna watched the process admiringly. 
Nettie was so very expert and bustled 
around like an experienced housekeeper. 
The house was very small, only two rooms 
downstairs and two up, with an attic over 
all, but everything was neat and clean, 
and the dishes, of course, were set out in 
an orderly manner upon a white table¬ 
cloth. The dish of smoking toast flanked 
by the rice pudding made an excellent 
meal. Nettie poured the tea and served 
her guest in the most hospitable way. 
They ate their meal in the front room be¬ 
fore the fire, and now that she was 
warmed and was no longer hungry, Edna 
began to be interested in her surround¬ 
ings. It was a plainly furnished room, 
a faded carpet on the floor, an old-fash¬ 
ioned sofa against one wall, a claw-footed 
mahogany table against the other, a book¬ 
case between the windows. One or two 
engravings hung on the wall and a dingy 



IN A BLIZZARD 


101 


portrait in an old frame. The chairs 
matched the sofa, one being a comfortable 
rocker with cover of haircloth. 

After they; had washed the supper 
dishes, Nettie made ready for the night 
by putting more coal on the fires and 
carefully barring the shutters and doors 
below. Then with a small lamp in her 
hand she escorted her guest to the up¬ 
stairs room. It was rather chilly and 
was also plainly furnished, though the 
old-fashioned four-poster bed was made 
up neatly, and the high bureau showed a 
clean cover. The wind howled and 
whistled around the house, the sharp 
snow crystals clicked against the panes, 
but as Edna crept under the covers she 
could feel only thankful that she had this 
shelter and was soon asleep with Nettie 
beside her already in the land of Dreams. 



CHAPTER VI 


COUSIN BEN TO THE RESCUE 

The next morning when Edna opened 
her eyes she saw a white world. Trees, 
fences, roofs, were covered with snow. 
It was banked np in great drifts along 
the road. The path to the gate was so 
deeply snowed under that it was an im¬ 
possibility to think of getting from the 
house. At the back it was no better. 
The two little girls looked rather sober. 

“I wonder if mother can get home to¬ 
day,” was the first thought in Nettie’s 
mind, and, “I wonder if I can get home 
to my mother,” was that in Edna’s. 

It seemed rather forlorn to think of 
facing the day without some older person, 
but Nettie bravely went to work to d,o her 
102 


COUSIN BEN TO THE RESCUE 103 


best. First she went down into the cellar 
for coal which she lugged up to put on the 
two fires. Edna came down to find her 
busily taking up the ashes. 

“Oh, how do you know what to do to 
make the fires burn?” she asked. 

“Oh, I know, for mother has told me, 
and I often do this for her. The kitchen 
fire is easy enough but it is hard to lift the 
coal bucket up high enough to get the 
coal into the other stove.” 

“I can help,” said Edna. So together 
they managed. 

“Now, I must see what there is for 
breakfast,” said Nettie. “I think there 
are two eggs, and the hens must have laid 
more, but I can’t get out to hunt them till 
a path is made. I think there is still a 
little milk, for it didn’t take much for 
the cambric tea, and we can have more of 
that. Then there is bread enough and 
butter. We can boil the eggs.” 



104 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


This they did, Edna watching the clock 
very carefully to see that they were not 
over done. They concluded to toast the 
bread, and made a pretty fair breakfast, 
though it was not a very hearty one, Edna 
thought. There was a little of the milk 
toast left which they warmed up to give 
to the cat who must miss his morning’s 
milk, as the milkman had not appeared. 

“I don’t suppose he will get here at 
all,” said Nettie a little anxiously. She 
was wondering what she could give her 
guest for dinner if it should be so that 
her mother did not return. She set to 
work in a very housewifely way to tidy up 
the house, Edna helping all she could. 
Then they stationed themselves by the 
window to see if by any chance there 
might be someone coming along whom 
they could hail. But the road was not 
much frequented and there was not a foot¬ 
step nor a track in the deep snow. Only 



COUSIN BEN TO THE RESCUE 105 


the smoke from neighboring chimneys 
gave any evidence of life. Once they 
heard sleigh-bells in the distance and con¬ 
cluded that the main road was being used. 

“I wish I could get out to feed the 
chickens,” said Nettie after a while. “I 
am afraid they will be hungry.” She 
went to the back door to view the pros¬ 
pect, and tried to shovel away some of 
the snow, but it was slow work. Edna 
brought another shovel and together they 
managed to clear a few feet of the path, 
but it was very wearying and they soon 
had to give it up. 

Then they went back to the window, 
but the monotony was not relieved by any 
change in the face of things and so they 
determined that it was rather stupid to 
stand there. Nettie brought down her 
two dolls and they played with these for 
a while, but keeping house in a make be¬ 
lieve way was not so exciting when there 



106 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


was the reality close at hand, and they 
decided that paper dolls would be more 
entertaining. 

“I think there is a fashion book up¬ 
stairs in the garret,” said Nettie, “and 
we can take that. Mother said I might 
have it.” 

Edna followed her up into the attic and 
they found the book, took it down into the 
front room and began to make their selec¬ 
tions and cut out paper dolls till it sud¬ 
denly dawned upon Nettie that it was time 
for another meal. She laid down her 
scissors with a sigh. “I really don’t 
know what we shall have for dinner,” she 
said. “Mother was going to bring some¬ 
thing back with her. I shall have to 
rummage. ’ ’ 

She went into the little pantry, Edna 
following. “There are two potatoes, but 
they aren’t very big,” she said, “and 
there is some codfish. I might make some 



COUSIN BEN TO THE RESCUE 107 


codfish balls if I knew how. Do you 
know, Edna?” 

“I think they are made of fish and 
potatoes, aren’t they?” 

“Yes, but I don’t know how much fish 
and how much potato, besides I am afraid 
there aren’t potatoes enough. I suppose 
we shall have to give that up. Oh, here 
are some more eggs; that is fine. If I 
could find some ham or some bacon we 
could have ham and eggs, and that would 
be very good.” But nothing of this kind 
could be discovered and Nettie brought 
out the potatoes, laid them on the table 
and said rather ruefully, “It seems to me 
that we aren’t going to have much dinner. 
There isn’t another thing except sugar 
and tea and such things.” 

“There might be rice,” said Edna with 
a sudden thought of Aunt Elizabeth’s 
desserts. 

“Why, of course, and rice and brown 



108 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


sugar are very good indeed. I am so glad 
you thought of it. I know there must be 
rice.” She went back to the pantry and 
presently came out with a box in which 
she had discovered the rice. “I’ll get the 
eggs and we can have them fried,” she 
remarked, “they will seem more like 
meat that way.” 

“And we can have the potatoes baked 
because they will be easier to do,” said 
Edna. 

Nettie made another visit to the pantry. 
“I’ve found something else,” she called. 

“What?” asked Edna going to the 
door. 

“Two apples. Now, I am sure that is 
every blessed thing.” 

“Well,” said Edna cheerfully, “I think 
we are very lucky to find so much.” 

“I must put the potatoes in the oven 
right away,” declared Nettie, for it takes 
them a good while to bake. I will put on 



COUSIN BEN TO THE RESCUE 109 


some water for the rice, too. I wonder 
how much rice I should take. Have you 
any idea?” 

“No, I haven’t, but I should think we 
will want quite a good deal, we haven’t 
very much else, have we?” 

“No, we have not. I will take a large 
cupful. It swells up so, I should think 
that might do. You soak it first, I think. ’ ’ 
She measured out a full cup of the rice, 
poured some water over it, washed it and 
then set it to soak till the water should 
boil. The potatoes were put in the oven 
and then the two went back to the next 
room. “It won’t take the rice as long as 
it does the potatoes, I am sure,” said 
Nettie, “and the water will have to boil 
first.” 

They returned to the paper-dolls, be¬ 
coming quite interested in them till pres¬ 
ently they heard a great sputtering, and 
running out found the water was boiling 



110 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


over. “I’ll put on the rice now,” said 
Nettie, “for I am getting hungry, aren’t 
you?” 

“Well, yes, a little,” acknowledged 
Edna. 

Nettie was rather uncertain as to what 
she should cook the rice in, and next, how 
much water she should pour over it, but 
after some discussion it was decided, and 
they went back to set the table. “Doesn’t 
it seem funny to be keeping house just 
like grown-ups?” said Edna. “I never 
knew how much trouble it was before, did 
you, Nettie?” 

“I knew, but I didn’t think about it, I 
suppose,” returned Nettie. “We will 
pile up our dolls and papers over here 
on this other table and then they will be 
easy to get at when we want them. I 
wish the milkman had come, for I really 
don’t know what to give to Tippy. We 
haven’t any meat. To be sure he will eat 



COUSIN BEN TO THE RESCUE 111 


most anything, but I am afraid he will 
go hungry to-day.’’ 

“Couldn’t you give him an egg and 
some bread or some rice, if we have 
enough.” 

“I could do that, I suppose. I hope 
there will be rice enough, but it is very 
hard to tell when you aren’t acquainted 
with such a thing as the boiling and swell¬ 
ing of it.” 

“Oh, I smell something burning,” cried 
Edna, “and something is making a 
funny popping noise.” They flew to the 
kitchen to see that the rice had burst all 
bounds and was dancing out of the sauce¬ 
pan all over the hot stove, puffing and 
popping at a great rate. 

“Oh, dear,” exclaimed Nettie. “I 
never saw so much rice come from one 
cupful. Could you believe it? Why, it 
has taken up all the water and the sauce¬ 
pan is full up to the top besides all that 



112 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


is on the stove. Oh, dear, I wish I knew 
just how to cook it.” 

“Haven’t you a cook book?” asked 
Edna with a quick suggestion of what 
might help out the question. 

“Why, of course mother has one. I 
will set this off and go hunt it up.” 

The book was found on the shelves and 
the two put their heads together to dis¬ 
cover the best way to boil rice. “I think 
this seems the easiest way,” said Nettie, 
pointing to one of the pages of the book, 
“but I hope it won’t hurt it to wait, for 
I’ll have to put on more water to boil. It 
says to have a great deal of water and 
keep it boiling like mad. ’ ’ 

After some time the rice was trans¬ 
ferred to another and larger saucepan 
and was soon boiling “like mad,” then 
the eggs were fried and after a somewhat 
anxious and laborious period of time the 
dinner was pronounced ready. 



COUSIN BEN TO THE RESCUE 113 


“Oil, dear me, but it is hard work,” 
said Edna sighing as the two sat down to 
partake of the meal which they had pre¬ 
pared after so much difficulty. 

“Yes, it is hard work,” agreed Nettie, 
“but we did it all ourselves, and the po¬ 
tatoes are really done and the rice looks 
all right.” 

“It looks fine,” said Edna, “and so do 
the eggs. I don’t mind their being 
broken a little; I don’t see how you could 
dish them up without.” 

They had been so long in preparing the 
meal that they were quite starved and ate 
with a relish. “I’m glad there is more 
rice,” said Nettie, “for now that I know 
what a little it takes to make a big dish 
I shan’t be afraid of our starving while 
it lasts.” 

“Oh, dear,” Edna put down her spoon, 
“you don’t think we shall have to stay 
here alone for days, do you? The snow 



114 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


will have to melt after a while and the 
roads be cleared.” 

“It doesn’t look much like it yet,” re¬ 
turned Nettie. 

“Oh, but it never, never, never could 
keep on like this.” Edna was determined 
to be hopeful. “I’m going to believe 
someone will come this very afternoon, 
either your mother or somebody.” 

Her faith was not without foundation 
for along in the middle of the afternoon 
they heard jangling bells, and ran to the 
front window to see the milkman in a 
huge sleigh, his milk cans in the body of 
it. He plowed his way to the front door 
which was opened to him before he could 
knock. 

“Oh, Mr. Snyder,” said Nettie, “I am 
so glad you have come. We are all alone 
and we haven’t a drop of milk.” 

“That so?” said Mr. Snyder. “I 
thought as much. It’s pretty hard trav- 



COUSIN BEN TO THE RESCUE 115 


elling and I’ve been hours getting around 
to my customers, but now the road is 
broken it won’t be quite so hard getting 
back. I’d better leave you double quan¬ 
tity in case I’m late to-morrow.” 

“Oh, you are our milkman, too, aren’t 
you?” said Edna. “You leave milk at 
Mrs. Conway’s, don’t you?” 

“To be sure I do.” 

“And have you been there yet?” 

“No, I’m on my way now. You’re out 
a bit, you know, but what are you doing 
down here?” 

Edna told him her tale in which he was 
much interested. “Well, I declare,” he 
said. “Want me to take you home with 
me ? I can bundle you in there with the 
milk cans, and I reckon you wouldn’t 
freeze.” 

For a moment Edna thought she must 
accept this invitation, then she looked at 
Nettie. Suppose her mother should not 



116 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


come that evening, and she should be 
there at night all alone. “Couldn’t you 
take Nettie, too?” she said. 

“Why, certainly. The two of you 
aren’t much more than two milk cans, and 
I’m sure you’re not so big round.” 

“Oh, but suppose mother should come,” 
said Nettie. “She would be so worried, 
and I must be here to keep up the fires.” 

“Then,” said Edna firmly, setting her 
face against the temptation of the cheer¬ 
ful supper table at home, the dear mother 
arms, the greetings of the boys and all 
the rest of it. “I will tell you what I 
can do. I will write mother a little note 
and ask her if she can send somebody or 
find some way to get us something to eat, 
and I’ll stay till your mother comes, 
Nettie.” 

“Oh, I think you are lovely to do that,” 
answered Nettie. 

“Could you wait a minute, Mr. Sny- 



COUSIN BEN TO THE RESCUE 117 


der?” asked Edna. “I won’t write 
much.” 

“I’ll w T ait,” he said, and if you will 
give me a shovel I’ll make a path to your 
gate. I reckon you’re right about stay¬ 
ing, sissy. I’ve got two little girls of my 
own and I know I shouldn’t like them to 
be left alone either one of them.” 

Edna hurried through her note which 
said: “Dear mother, I am with Nettie 
Black. She lives in the first little house 
on the side road on the way to the old 
mill. We are all alone for her mother 
hasn’t come back. Please send us some¬ 
thing to eat if you can, for we have noth¬ 
ing left but rice and milk. There may 
be eggs in the hen-house, but we can’t 
get at them. I want to come but I’d 
better not. Your loving Edna.” 

The little note was safely stowed away 
in Mr. Snyder’s pocket with a promise 
of sure delivery, and he went off, his 



118 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


horses plunging through the deep drifts 
up to their middles. 

“I think you are just as good as you 
can be,” said Nettie. “I don’t feel as 
if I ought to let you stay, but I do hate 
the idea of being left all alone.” 

“I’d want you to stay with me if I were 
in your place,” returned Edna remem¬ 
bering the G. R. Club. To be sure 
Nettie did not belong to her school, but 
she was quite as much one of those 
“others” to whom one should do as he 
would be done by. 

“It really looks as if something had 
happened,” remarked Edna. “When we 
see the path to the gate. I wish he had 
had time to make one at the back, too.” 

It was almost dark and they were about 
to turn from the window to light the lamp, 
when ploughing through the deep snow 
they saw someone coming down the road. 
They watched him eagerly. Except the 



COUSIN BEN TO THE RESCUE 119 


milkman he was the first person they had 
seen that day. “He is coming this way,” 
said Edna hopefully. “Oh, Nettie, I be¬ 
lieve it is Cousin Ben. He has a basket 
and see how he has taken to the road 
where Mr. Snyder’s sleigh went along.” 
She watched for a few minutes longer. 
“It is Cousin Ben,” she cried joyfully. 
“He is coming here. Light the lamp, 
Nettie, while I go let him in.” 

She hurried to the door to see Ben 
stamping off the snow from his feet. 
“Whewee!” he exclaimed, “but isn’t this 
a sockdolager ? I never saw such a 
storm? How are you Ande, my honey. 
Of all things to think of your being this 
near home and none of us knowing it.” 

“Then mother did think I was still at 
Uncle Justus’s,” said Edna. 

“Just what she did. You rung a sur¬ 
prise on the whole of us, I can tell you.” 

He came in and set down the basket, 



120 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


took off liis cap and overcoat and looked 
down at the two little girls with a smile. 

“This is Nettie Black,” Edna told him. 
“She has been so nice to me, and I don’t 
know what would have happened if I had 
not been able to get to her house.” 

“Don’t speak of it,” returned Ben with 
a little frown and a shake of his head. 
“I’ll sit down and warm myself and then 
you can tell me how this all happened.” 

He drew up to the fire, took Edna on 
his knee and she poured forth her tale. 
“Pretty tough,” he said when she had 
completed her story. “I’m glad your 
mother didn’t know you had started. 
Now, Miss Nettie if you will let me sleep 
on that big sofa I am going to stay right 
here till we can dig you out and your 
mother comes. There’s a lot of provender 
in that basket and we’ll be as jolly as they 
make ’em.” 

“Oh, but you can sleep upstairs,” re- 



COUSIN BEN TO THE RESCUE 121 


turned Nettie. “ There is plenty of 
room.” 

“Good! Then upstairs be it. What 
was that about hens and eggs and things, 
Ande?” 

“Oh, we can’t get out to the hen-house, 
you know. We tried to make a path but 
it was too hard work for us so we gave 
it up.” 

“I should remark. Well, that will be 
done first thing in the morning, and I’ll 
go see what I can find. Eggsactly, as it 
were. What about the fires? Any coal 
up here?” 

“A little,” Nettie told him. “We 
have carried up all we could at a time, 
but we couldn’t bring enough for the 
fires to-night. We are going down to get 
more.” 

“You are going to do no such thing. 
Got a candle ? Where are the coal 
scuttles ? One of you hold the. light and 



122 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


show me your coal bin and up comes your 
coal.” Cousin Ben was already making 
for the cellar door. 

Of course no one was going to be left 
out of this expedition and all three de¬ 
scended to the cellar, from which they 
presently came forth all laughing. It 
was certainly a cheering thing to have 
someone so willing to come to their aid. 
Next the basket was unpacked and it goes 
without saying that there were neither 
eggs nor rice for supper that night. 
Moreover, Tippy had such a feast of 
milk as well as other things as he had 
not seen for several days. Ben kept the 
little girls in such a state of giggle that 
they could scarcely do # the dishes, but 
what with the labors of the day and the 
later excitement they were ready for bed 
early, and went up leaving Cousin Ben 
with a book before him. Later his light 
half wakened Edna, but as he closed the 



COUSIN BEN TO THE RESCUE 123 


door between the rooms and she realized 
that be was there, she turned over with a 
sigh of content, feeling very safe and 
sleepy. 



CHAPTER YII 


DISTURBANCES 

Sunday morning was bright and clear. 
It was so dazzlingly bright when the little 
girls arose that they thought it must be 
much later than it was. Cousin Ben, 
however, was already up and dressed and 
had been down some time when the two 
finally descended to the lower floor. This 
was made known by reason of the fires 
burning brightly and of there being a 
path cleared to the hen-house, while as 
many as a dozen eggs were in a bowl on 
the kitchen table. 

“Oh, Cousin Ben,” cried Edna, “what 
a lot you have done. It is so cosey and 
warm down here, and we won’t have to 
wait at all for breakfast.” 

124 


DISTURBANCES 


125 


“I hope not,” he returned, “for I’m 
hungry, for one. "What are you going to 
have?” 

Edna turned to Nettie who considered 
the question. It was a great occasion 
when there were two guests to be pro¬ 
vided for. “As long as there are so many 
eggs,” she said, “we can have muffins or 
something and some eggs. I could have 
some kind of breakfast food, too, I believe 
there’s some oat-meal.” 

“Never mind the oat-meal,” said Ben. 
“You get me out the flour and stuff and 
I’ll make the muffins. There is a royal 
fire and I’ll get them ready in three 
shakes of a sheep’s tail.” 

“You?” Nettie looked amazed. 

“Of course. Did you never hear of a 
man cook? I’ve served my apprentice¬ 
ship, I can assure you. I’ll make the 
coffee, too, if you have any.” 

“Oh, there is some already ground, in 



126 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


the basket mother sent,” Edna assured 
him. “We don’t drink it, but we can 
have cambric tea.” 

“All right, you go along and set the 
table, and I’ll do the rest.” 

Nettie was rather glad to have the re¬ 
sponsibility taken off her hands in this 
summary manner, though she said to 
Edna, “Do you think it is polite to let him 
do it all?” 

“Why, certainly,” replied Edna. “He 
does those things at home for his mother 
sometimes, for he has no sisters, and the 
boys have to pitch in and help when the 
servant goes out. He has told me all 
about it. And as for its being polite, I 
remember mother said it was always more 
polite to let your company do the thing 
which made them comfortable than to in¬ 
sist upon doing something for them that 
would make them uncomfortable.” 

Nettie considered this for some time be- 






•M 






j§ lip 

k . 

|:5$V::55v 




: ; x- 









S* 



x^x' ys%yxKk 

Bk&'^xXv 


“ Did You Never Hear of a Man Cook?” 




























- 








































































































* 











































DISTURBANCES 


127 


fore she quite took in the sense of it. 
She was a thin, demure little girl, not at 
all pretty, but with a kind face, big blue 
eyes and sandy hair. She was dressed 
very plainly, but her clothes were neat and 
simply made. She was not the kind of 
child Edna might have expected to find 
in such a little house. 

The muffins turned out a great success, 
and Ben said his coffee just suited him. 
“I never saw fresher eggs than your hens 
lay,” he said, looking at Nettie with a 
serious face. 

“Of course, they are fresh,” she re¬ 
turned, “when they were only laid yester¬ 
day.” 

“That’s what I said,” returned Ben, 
with gravity. 

Edna laughed. She was used to Cousin 
Ben’s ways, but Nettie was a little puz¬ 
zled. 

The breakfast was as merry an affair 



128 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


as the supper had been, and after it 
was cleared away there was a consul¬ 
tation upon what should be done next. 
“There’s no use in thinking of church,” 
said Ben. “We couldn’t get there if we 
tried.” 

“And there are so few trains I don’t 
suppose I can expect mother this morn¬ 
ing,” said Nettie. 

“Better not expect her at all,” replied 
Ben, “that is, not while the roads are so 
snowy. There is scarcely any use in even 
a sleigh while these drifts are so high. 
Ande, what is the use of a sleigh, any¬ 
how^” he asked, turning to his cousin 
who saw a joke. 

“You tell,” she answered. 

“Snow use” he replied. “Now, I’ll 
go out and feed the hens, and then I’ll 
put on my boots and start on the road 
again. I’ll see what’s going on at the 
house, and then I’ll come back again.” 



DISTURBANCES 


129 


They watched him ploughing through 
the snow, but because he had been there 
and was coming back it seemed not lonely 
at all, though Nettie said, wistfully, she 
did hope her mother could come that day, 
and Edna hoped she could find a way of 
getting home. 

Toward noon they saw a queer box- 
sleigh coming from the main road. They 
watched it interestedly from the window 
as it approached nearer and nearer. “I 
do believe it is mother,” exclaimed Nettie, 
joyfully. And sure enough the sleigh did 
stop before the door, a man got out, 
and then helped a slight woman in black 
to alight. “It is mother,” cried Nettie, 
running to the door, and presently she 
was in her mother’s arms. 

Then there were great explanations. 
Like the little girls, Mrs. Black had been 
snowed in, for her sister lived quite a 
distance from the station, but she had at 



130 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


last been able to get some one of the 
neighbors to bring her across, as he had 
to go to the doctor’s, and was willing to 
take her the short distance further. 

“If I had known how well cared for 
you would be,” she told her daughter, 
“and that you were not alone at all, I 
should have been much less anxious. 
Certainly, we have a great deal to be 
thankful for.” 

Edna felt that she certainly had a great 
deal to be thankful for when a little later 
she saw a big black sleigh stop before the 
door. She recognized it as Mrs. Mac¬ 
Donald’s, for it was driven by her coach¬ 
man, though in it sat Cousin Ben. He 
had come back as he promised, but 
in great state. And because Nettie’s 
mother had returned he bore Edna off 
alone, after many good-bys and promises 
to see her new friend as often as she 
could. 



DISTURBANCES 


131 


“How did you happen to come in Mrs. 
MacDonald’s sleigh?” she asked her 
cousin. 

‘ ‘ Well, I will tell you. When I reached 
the house I found that Mrs. MacDonald 
had telephoned over to ask about all of 
you, and to see how Celia was. When 
she heard where you were and all about 
it, she said she would send over her sleigh 
and I could go for you and Nettie in it, 
and so as that seemed a good arrange¬ 
ment I was going to put it into execution. 
We had decided to leave a note for Mrs. 
Black in case she should get back to-day, 
so she wouldn’t be worried.” 

“It’s really much better this way,” re¬ 
turned Edna, “for now she has her 
mother, and I will have mine.” 

It seemed a delightful home coming, and 
because the snow was still so deep there 
was the extra holiday on Monday, but by 
Tuesday all started off to school again. 



132 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


Mrs. MacDonald knew all about Mrs. 
Black, and said she was a very good 
woman, who had taken this little house in 
the country because she could live there 
more cheaply, and because in such a place 
as she could afford in the city her little 
daughter would not be surrounded by 
pleasant influences. Nettie went to the 
district school, and was such a little girl 
as Edna’s parents would select as a com¬ 
panion for their daughter. So, Edna felt 
she had made quite a discovery, and 
planned all sorts of times with Nettie 
when the winter was over. 

Matters went on at school uninter¬ 
ruptedly, until just before Christmas, 
when it was suddenly made known that 
Miss Ashurst was to be married, and that 
another teacher would take her place 
after the holidays. The GL R. ? s got up a 
linen shower for the departing teacher, 
but the Neighborhood Club did nothing. 



DISTURBANCES 


133 


Its numbers were dwindling, for when 
it was learned what good times the rivals 
had at their meetings, there was more 
than one deserter. For some reason, 
Clara Adams had picked out Edna as the 
prime cause of all this. She had never 
forgiven her for winning the doll at the 
fair the year before, and was likewise 
furiously jealous of her friendship for 
Jennie Ramsey. If Edna had been a less 
generous and sweet-tempered child, mat¬ 
ters might have been much worse, but 
even as it was they were made bad 
enough. 

No sooner had the new teacher ap¬ 
peared than Clara set to work to do 
everything in her power to make Edna 
appear to disadvantage, by all sorts of 
mean innuendoes, by sly hints, by even 
open charges, till the child was almost in 
tears over the state of affairs. 

“I would just tell Miss Newman, so I 



134 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


would, ” said Dorothy indignantly, when 
a specially mean speech of Clara’s came 
to her ears. 

“Oh, but I couldn’t be a tattle-tale,” 
declared Edna. 

“She’d better not say anything about 
you to me,” returned Dorothy. “She 
knows better than that. I’d tell her a 
thing or two.” 

“If Uncle Justus knew, he would be¬ 
lieve me and not Clara,” said Edna. “I 
don’t cheat in my lessons, and he knows 
I don’t, whatever Clara may say, and 
I’m not the one who sets the girls up to 
mischief, you know I’m not.” 

“I know mighty well who it is,” de¬ 
clared Dorothy, “and if this keeps up I 
shall tell, so I shall.” 

It did keep up till one morning the cli¬ 
max was reached when Miss Newman 
came into her school-room to find on the 
board a very good caricature of herself, 



DISTURBANCES 


135 


with under it written: “Ugly, old Miss 
New,” in scrawling letters. Clara came 
into the school-room late, and slipped into 
her seat after the exercises had begun. 
Miss Newman left the drawing on the 
board and made no reference to it, using 
a smaller board for what was necessary. 
She was far less attractive than Miss 
Ashurst, and had a dry little way with 
her, which many of the girls thought old- 
maidish, but she was a good teacher, if 
not a very beautiful one. When the girls 
returned from recess, in place of Miss 
Newman at the desk stood Mr. Horner, 
his eyes fairly snapping with indignation, 
and his eyebrows looking fiercer than 
ever. 

“Oh,” whispered Dorothy, as she sank 
down into her seat by Edna’s side. The 
rest of the girls looked pale and awe¬ 
stricken. Never before had they any 
recollection of Mr. Horner’s coming into 



136 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


the room. Offenders were sometimes 
sent to him in the larger room, but this 
was a new experience. 

There was complete silence, while Mr. 
Horner looked from one to the other as 
if he would search their very hearts. 
Some of the girls returned his gaze plead¬ 
ingly, some dropped their heads, Clara 
Adams, with a little smile of indifference, 
began to play with her pencil. Mr. 
Horner glared at her. ‘ 4 Put that down! ’ ’ 
he said, and she dropped it, though still 
wearing her impertinent little smile. “I 
wish to know,” said Mr. Horner, “who 
was the first to arrive in this room this 
morning*?” 

“I was the last,” spoke up Clara. 

“You were not asked that,” said Mr. 
Horner, turning upon her. 

After quite a silence, Margaret arose. 
“I think I was the first, Mr. Horner,” 
she said, and then sat down again. 



DISTURBANCES 


137 


“ There was no one in the room when 
yon came?” 

“No, Mr. Horner.” 

“And was this on the board?” He 
pointed to the drawing. 

“Yes, Mr. Horner.” 

“Yon did not do it?” 

“No, Mr. Horner,” then with a little 
catch of her breath, “I wouldn’t do snch 
a mean thing, not for nothing.” 

“Not for anything, I think yon mean, 
Margaret,” said Mr. Horner in gentler 
tones. 

“Not for anything,” repeated Marga¬ 
ret, meekly. 

“Then, I shall have to ask each sepa¬ 
rately, and I expect a truthful answer,” 
said Mr. Horner. He began putting the 
question, going from one to the next till 
every girl in the room had been ques¬ 
tioned. 

“It might have been one of the older 



138 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


girls,” said Miss Newman, in an under¬ 
tone to him. 

Clara caught the words, as she was 
nearest. “I should think it would be 
very easy to know who did it,” she said, 
“when there is only one of us girls who 
stays in the house.” 

“What do you mean by that?” asked 
Mr. Horner severely. 

Clara was not daunted. “I mean that 
there is only one girl who can come into 
the school-room before the others can get 
here.” 

“Ho you mean my niece? I should as 
soon think of suspecting Miss Newman 
herself.” He looked over at Edna with 
a little reassuring smile. “However, 
as we do not seem to be making much 
headway I shall take other means of find¬ 
ing out who did this very unladylike and 
unkind thing.” Then he gave them such 
a lecture as none of them forgot and if 



DISTURBANCES 


139 


the G. R.’s did not have their motto 
brought home to them on that occasion 
they never did. Then Mr. Horner 
returned to his own school-room and 
Miss Newman called one of the girls to 
clean off the board. 

Nothing further was said of the matter, 
and Miss Newman went on as if it had 
never happened; but one day the last 
of the week, the girls were asked to 
illustrate in pencil drawings a story from 
their history lesson. 

“Oh, Miss Newman, I couldn’t possibly 
do it,” exclaimed Dorothy. “I don’t 
expect finished drawings,” she replied, 
“and you may even make them as humor¬ 
ous as you choose, but I want some little 
attempt, no matter how slight. Mr. 
Horner has asked that you do your best, 
and I shall expect you to hand in some¬ 
thing beside blank paper.” 

Dorothy and Edna both sighed. 



140 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


Neither one had the slightest idea of 
drawing and knew that their results 
would be absurd, but they labored away 
and finally with half deprecating, half 
amused expressions showed their draw¬ 
ings to one another. It was as much as 
they could do to keep from laughing out¬ 
right, they were so very funny, but they 
signed their names in the corner as Miss 
Newman directed them to do, and handed 
them in. Then, Miss Newman took 
them into the next room. At the close 
of school, she said, “Mr. Horner wishes 
Clara Adams to stay after school; he 
wishes to see her about her drawing.” 

Clara perked up and looked around 
with a little smirk. So she was the prize 
draughtsman, and she remained with a 
perfectly good grace. However, it was 
a very different looking Clara who was 
led into the room the next morning by 
Mr. Horner. Her eyes were swollen with 



DISTURBANCES 


141 


crying and she wore a rebellions expres¬ 
sion when Mr. Horner announced, 
“ Clara Adams wishes to make a public 
acknowledgment of her part in the rude¬ 
ness directed against Miss Newman by 
the drawing you all saw on the board, 
and she will also make a public apology 
both to her teacher and to my niece.” 

Clara murmured something unintel¬ 
ligible and burst into tears. The only 
words the girls could make out were “I 
did it.” It was the most terrible thing 
that had ever happened to any of them 
and Edna felt so sorry for the culprit 
that all resentment vanished altogether. 
She forgot entirely that she was included 
in the apology, if apology there was, and 
all morning she cast the most sympa¬ 
thetic looks across the room at Clara. 

It came out later that the drawings 
were the proof of the child’s guilt, for 
they were done in the same style as the 



142 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


caricature and because they were so much 
better than the rest it was evident that 
only Clara could have made the figure on 
the board. She had come very early, 
had slipped upstairs before anyone else 
and had gone out again to return later 
and thus hoped to avoid any suspicion. 
It happened, too, that Ellen saw her come 
in and go out again and this of course 
clinched the matter when she was brought 
face to face with the Irish girl who did 
not know her name but recognized the 
hat and coat she wore. 

The affair made a great impression 
but somehow did not increase Miss New¬ 
man ’s popularity, for the idea of the 
drawings was hers and Clara could not 
forgive her for the position into which 
she had forced her, therefore she lost no 
opportunity of making it as unpleasant 
for her teacher as she could in the thou¬ 
sand and one ways a sly and unprincipled 



DISTURBANCES 


143 


girl can, and her little pin-pricks were 
so annoying, that finally Dorothy and 
Edna, who had not particularly cared 
for the new teacher, began to stand up for 
her and to do as many kind things as they 
could. Perhaps the G. R. Club was 
mainly responsible for this, but at all 
events it made matters a little happier 
for the teacher. 

As for Clara, Dorothy set her face 
against any sort of friendship with her, 
but it was not within Edna’s heart to be 
unkind to anyone, and she made up her 
mind that she would meet Clara half way 
if ever the chance came. 

Uncle Justus never mentioned the 
affair of the caricature to her, but she 
knew he had never the slightest belief 
that she had done it and his open 
approval of her before the whole class 
was very much valued. She had won her 
way into the hearts of most of the girls, 



144 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


and there were only two or three of 
Clara’s most adoring adherents who still 
called her “a pet” and said she was at 
the bottom of all Clara’s trouble. This 
seemed a very strange way to look at it, 
but poor Clara was so blinded by jeal¬ 
ousy and rage that she saw nothing in 
the right light. Edna wondered if she 
would ever cease to dislike her, and 
insisted to Dorothy that they ought to try 
to persuade her to come into the club. 
“You see,” she said, “if she could once 
find out what doing to others really 
means she maybe would get over all her 
hatefulness. Mother thinks so, and I’m 
not going to give up being nice to her 
if I get a chance.” 

“Well, you don’t catch me,” returned 
Dorothy. “I don’t want to go with 
such a horrid story-teller as she is. I 
shouldn’t think you would, either.” 

Edna said not a word, but still hoped. 



CHAPTER VIII 


THE FRIENDLESS FRIENDS 

Margaret came to school in great 
excitement one Monday morning. “I’m 
going to have a party,” she said to Edna. 
“I’ll tell you all about it at recess.” 

The idea of Margaret’s really having a 
party was most interesting when Edna 
remembered that it had been just a year 
since she was adopted by Mrs. Mac¬ 
Donald. She had improved very much 
in this time, both in speech and manner, 
and no happier child could be found than 
she. To be sure she had everything to 
make her happy, as Dorothy often said, 
a beautiful home, a kind mother and 
friends who took pains to make her for¬ 
get how forlorn she had once been. She 
145 


146 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


was very grateful for all these things, and 
rarely asked for anything more than was 
offered to her, so that Mrs. MacDonald 
was all the more ready to give her pleas¬ 
ures which she did not ask for. 

Jennie and Dorothy were admitted into 
the little group which gathered to hear 
about the party. “Tell us all about it, 
Margaret,” said Edna. “Just begin at 
the beginning.” 

“Well,” said Margaret, “mother was 
saying to me on Saturday evening, 4 Mar¬ 
garet, do you know it is almost a year 
since you became my own little daughter ? 
Now I think we ought to celebrate the day 
of your coming to your home. What 
would you like to do?’ So I thought and 
thought, and then I said, 4 1 never had a 
party in all my life, would it be too much 
to celebrate by having one?’ and she said, 

4 Not at all, though I should first like to 
know what girls you would like to invite, ’ 



THE FRIENDLESS FRIENDS 147 


and I told her all the G. R. Club. ‘ Any¬ 
one else?’ she asked, and I thought of 
Nettie Black. ‘I’d like to have Nettie/ 
I said, and then I remembered how 
lonely I used to be even at the Friendless, 
and how glad I used to be when you came 
to see me, Edna, and I thought of two or 
three who were still there, girls who 
haven’t been adopted, and I said I’d like 
to have them. Then mother said, ‘Very 
well, only the others may not want to 
come if you have poor children like them, 
and you’d better ask the girls, and if they 
refuse you can make up your mind which 
you would rather have, the girls of the 
club or the Friendlessers. ’ ” 

“Oh, Margaret, you know we won’t 
care,” said Edna earnestly. 

“I knew you wouldn’t, but I didn’t 
know about them all. I shall have to 
ask, you see, because it seems to me that 
of all the people I know, the Friendless- 



148 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


ers are the very ones who ought to come 
when it is to celebrate my coming away 
from there, and then, too they don’t have 
good times like we do.” 

The girls all called the Home of the 
Friendless “The Friendless” and the 
children there, “The Friendlessers” so 
they knew quite well whom Margaret 
meant. 

“How soon is the party to be?” asked 
J ennie. 

“Next Saturday afternoon. The 
Friendlessers can come then better than 
any other time, and besides we live out of 
town, and it will be easier for everyone 
to come in the afternoon.” 

“I shall come,” said Dorothy decid¬ 
edly, “and I think it is a beautiful idea 
for you to have the Friendlessers.” 

“And of course I shall come,” put in 
Jennie. 

“I know my sister will,” said Edna. 



THE FRIENDLESS FRIENDS 149 


“ And mine/’ echoed Dorothy. 

“There is one thing I hope you won’t 
mind my saying,” said Margaret; 
“ mother says please not to wear party 
frocks, and not to dress up much, on ac¬ 
count of the Priendlessers, you know, for 
of course they won’t have any.” 

“Of course not,” agreed the girls. 

“Mother says we can have just as good 
a time if we are not dressed up and as 
long as it is going to be in the daytime it 
won’t make so much difference.” 

“Let’s go tell the other girls,” sug¬ 
gested Edna. 

They hunted up Agnes, Celia and the 
rest of the club members and did not find 
one who objected to the presence of the 
“Friendlessers.” 

However, when the news of Margaret’s 
party was noised abroad, there was much 
scorn on the part of the Neighborhood 
Club. “The idea,” said Clara, “of going 



150 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


to a party with orphan asylum children! 
I’d like to see my mother allowing me to 
associate with such creatures. I can’t 
think what Jennie Ramsey’s mother can 
be thinking of to allow her to go. Be¬ 
sides, Margaret is an orphan asylum girl 
herself and no better than the rest! I’m 
sure I wouldn’t be seen at her party.” 

“And they’re not even going to wear 
party frocks, nor so much as white ones,” 
said Gertrude Crane. “I don’t see what 
fun it will be.” 

“And I suppose there are to be no 
boys,” put in Clara. 

“I haven’t heard whether there are to 
be or not,” returned Gertrude. 

The question of boys did come up later 
when Mrs. MacDonald asked Margaret if 
she did not think it would be well to invite 
Frank and Charley Conway, as one of 
the “Friendlessers” was a boy. The two 
Porter boys who came out often to play 



THE FRIENDLESS FRIENDS 151 


with the Conway boys, were thought of 
and were invited, and when Edna 
returned home on Friday evening Cousin 
Ben informed her that he, too, was going. 

“Why, Cousin Ben,” she said in 
pleased surprise, “how does that happen, 
when you are such a big boy, really a 
man, you know?” 

“I must confess I fished for an invita¬ 
tion,” he told her. “Mrs. MacDonald 
was over here to ask if Charlie and Frank 
could come and I said, ‘What’s the 
matter with asking me, too?’ and so I got 
my invite. I wouldn’t miss it for a six¬ 
pence.” Cousin Ben and Mrs. Mac¬ 
Donald were great friends and he was 
quite intimate at the big gray house so it 
was no wonder that he wanted to be at 
Margaret’s first party. 

It was as Ben said “a queer mix-up.” 
The first to arrive were the four children 
from the Home of the Friendless, three 



152 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


little girls and one little boy. One of the 
teachers brought them out and remained 
in order to take them back again. The 
big gray house looked cheerful and more 
attractive than usual, for flowers were 
Mrs. MacDonald’s great pleasure and 
they were everywhere, making up for the 
plainness of the furnishings, for Mrs. 
MacDonald did not believe in ^howiness. 
Her house was thoroughly comfortable 
but not elegant. 

These first arrivals were very shy, quite 
awe-stricken and sat on the edges of their 
chairs scarce daring to move until Mar¬ 
garet took them out to see the green¬ 
houses. After that they were a little 
more at their ease for each came back 
with a flower. By a little after three all 
had arrived, the Porter boys with their 
Punch and Judy show which they had 
promised to bring, and Ben with his 
banjo. All the girls wore plain frocks 



M • 



“The Friendlessers Party/'’ 























* 

5 

* * 






\ 





























■' - 


















































. 


's) 
























■ 







THE FRIENDLESS FRIENDS 153 


with no extra ornaments, Margaret her¬ 
self being not much better dressed than 
her friends from the Home. 

The Punch and Judy show was given 
first as a sort of prelude to the games 
which were to follow, and in these even 
the older girls joined with spirit. The 
main idea seemed to be that everyone 
should do his or her best to make the 
party a success and to give the poorer 
children as good a time as possible. 
Ben, be it said, was the life of the occa¬ 
sion. He kept everyone going, never 
allowed a dull moment, and if nothing 
else was planned, he would pick up his 
banjo and give a funny coon song, so that 
it was no wonder Mrs. MacDonald was 
glad to have invited him. 

Probably in all their lives the Friend- 
lessers never forgot the wonderful table 
to which they were led when refresh¬ 
ments were served, and which they talked 



154 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


of for weeks afterward. Here there was 
no stint and the decorations were made 
as beautiful as possible. There were 
pretty little favors for everyone, and 
such good things to eat as would have 
done credit to any entertainment. It was 
all over at six o’clock, but not one went 
away with a feeling of having had a 
stupid time, for even the older girls 
agreed among themselves that it had 
been great fun. 

“Did you ever see anything like those 
children’s eyes when they saw that 
table,” said Agnes smiling at the recol¬ 
lection. 

“It must havh been like a fairy tale 
to them, poor little things,” replied Helen 
Darby. “I think it was a perfectly 
lovely thing for Mrs. MacDonald to do. 
Won’t I have fun telling father about 
it, and how interested he will be. He has 
been quizzing me all day about my 



THE FRIENDLESS FRIENDS 155 


orphan asylum party, but I know he 
liked my going.’’ 

“I liked that little Nettie Black,” 
Florence remarked. “She has such a 
nice quaint little face, like an old-fash¬ 
ioned picture. Her name ought to be 
Prudence or Charity or some of those 
queer old names. Where did you pick 
her up, Edna?” 

“Oh, she is the little girl that I kept 
house with at the time of the blizzard,” 
Edna told her. “She lives just a short 
way up the side road, and she is a very 
nice child.” 

“I found that out,” returned Florence. 
“Why doesn’t she belong to our club?” 

“Because she doesn’t go to our .school.” 

“To be sure, I forgot that. Well, she 
could be made an honorary member or 
something,'couldn’t she Agnes?” 

“Why, I should think so. We’ll have 
to bring that up at our next meeting. 



156 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


Would she like to belong to the club, do 
you think, Edna?” 

“She would just love to, I know.” 

“Then we’ll have to fix it some way. 
I’ll ask mother or Mrs. Conway what we 
can do.” 

“I don’t know how we could all get into 
their parlor,” said Edna doubtfully; “it 
is so very tiny.” 

“We don’t have to,” Agnes told her, 
“for you know the general club-room is 
up in our attic and I’m sure that is big 
enough for anyone. If Nettie comes into 
the club, when her turn comes for a meet¬ 
ing it can be held in the general club- 
room.” 

This was very satisfactory, but it did 
not do away with another difficulty which 
came to Edna’s mind. She knew that 
Mrs. Black had barely enough means to 
get along on with the utmost economy and 
how Nettie could ever furnish even simple 



THE FRIENDLESS FRIENDS 157 


refreshments for a dozen or more girls 
she did not know. However, she would 
not worry about that till the time came. 
As yet Nettie was not even a member of 
the club. 

Margaret’s party was talked about at 
school almost as much after as before it 
came off. Those who had been present 
discoursed upon the good time they had 
had, and those who were not there wished 
they had been. But to offset it, there came 
the report that Clara Adams was going to 
have a party and that it would be in the 
evening and was expected to be a 
gorgeous affair. Jennie Ramsey was 
invited but had not made up her mind 
whether she wanted to go or not. As 
most of those who would be invited were 
the children of Mrs. Adams’s friends and 
were not schoolmates of Clara’s it did not 
seem to Jennie that she would have a 
very good time. 



158 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“It will be all fuss and feathers / 7 she 
told Dorothy and Edna, “and I won’t 
know half the children there, besides I 
shall hear so much talk about what I shall 
wear and all that. I believe I’d rather 
stay at home.” 

“Clara is going to wear a lace frock 
over pink silk, I heard her say,” Dorothy 
told them. 

“I should think that would be very 
pretty,” declared Edna admiringly. 

“I’d rather be dressed as we were at 
Margaret’s,” Jennie returned, “for then 
we could romp around and not care 
anything about what happened to our 
clothes.” Jennie hadn’t a spark of 
vanity and cared so little for dress as to 
be a surprise to the others. 

“Of course that was nice, but I should 
like the pretty clothes, too,” rejoined 
Edna with honesty. 

“They won’t do anything, either, but 



THE FRIENDLESS FRIENDS 159 


dance and sit around and look at each 
other,” continued Jennie. “I’d much 
rather play games like ‘ Going to Jeru¬ 
salem’ and 4 Forfeits’ and all those things 
we did at Margaret’s. I have all the 
dancing I want at dancing-school. No, I 
shall tell my mother I don’t want to go.” 
Jennie had made up her mind, and that 
was the end of the matter for her. 

Therefore the others heard very little 
of what went on at Clara’s party. That 
it came off they knew, and there was 
much talk of what this one or that one 
wore, of how late they stayed and how 
many dances they had, but that was all, 
and the stay-at-homes decided that, after 
all they had not missed much, and if 
Clara’s intention was to rouse their envy 
she failed of her purpose. 

At the next meeting of the club Nettie 
was voted in as an honorary member. 
“That seems to be about the only thing we 



160 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 

can do,” Agnes announced, “and every¬ 
one seems to want her.” So the thing 
was done. 

If there was one thing above another 
which Nettie did long for it was to become 
a member of the club whose wonderful 
doings she had heard so much of from 
Edna. The two had seen each other 
often, and now that the spring was near¬ 
ing, rarely a Saturday came but that they 
met. It was Edna who took her the joy¬ 
ful news on Friday evening. 

“I’ve something perfectly lovely to 
tell you,” she announced as soon as she 
was inside the door of the little house. 

“What?” asked Nettie with a quick 
smile of interest. 

“You’re going to be a member of our 
club.” 

“Oh, Edna, how can I be? I don’t 
go to your school.” 

“I know, and that is why we had to 



THE FRIENDLESS FRIENDS 161 


make you an honorary member, Agnes 
said.” 

“Oh, I think you are all the dearest 
things I ever knew,” cried Nettie. Then 
her face fell, “But, oh, Edna, how can we 
get all of you girls in this little bit of a 
house?” 

“Oh, you can meet in the general club- 
room at the Evanses,” Edna told her. 
“Agnes says so and it is in their attic, you 
know. When a girl can’t very well* have 
the meeting at her house we have it there. 
Once it was to be at Betty Lowndes’s 
house and her little sister had the chicken- 
pox so we couldn’t meet there and we had 
it in the attic.” 

Nettie’s face cleared, but presently a 
new difficulty presented itself, one which 
she hesitated to speak of but which was 
a very serious one. How should she tell 
Edna what was in her mind? But she 
remembered that Edna had seen the pov- 



162 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


erty of the family stores and that there 
was no need to make any pretence to her. 
“There’s another thing,” she began, “I 
haven’t any money, and I couldn’t ask 
mother for refreshments.” 

“I thought of that,” answered Edna; 
“we might give them rice,” and then they 
both laughed. “If there were only some 
way you could earn some money and I 
could help you,” continued Edna with 
more seriousness. “Perhaps we could 
think of some way. If it were something 
we could both do, I could help you.” 

“You are always so good that way,” 
replied Nettie gratefully. 

“Well, anyhow,” said Edna, “it won’t 
be for some time yet that you have to have 
the meeting and perhaps we can think of 
something. If we can’t would you mind 
if I ask mother what we could do?” 

“I’d rather not,” replied Nettie doubt¬ 
fully, “not unless you have to.” 



THE FRIENDLESS FRIENDS 163 


“Then I won’t unless I have to.” 

“ Perhaps my mother can think of a 
way, only I don’t want to say anything 
to her, for she will feel badly because she 
can’t let me have the money, and I know 
I ought not to ask her for it. I won’t 
ask, of course, but if I tell it will be the 
same as asking, and it will make her feel 
so unhappy if she must say no, she can’t.” 

“Then we must try very hard to think 
of a way without telling anyone. You 
wouldn’t need so very much, you know, 
Nettie, for we can have real cheap things 
like peanuts and gingerbread, or some¬ 
thing like that. I believe fifty cents 
would be enough to spend, and a dollar 
would be plenty.” 

This seemed like a large amount to 
Nettie, though she did not say so, and the 
thought of earning that much weighed 
heavily upon her after Edna had gone 
home. 



164 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


Edna’s thoughts, too, were busy all the 
evening, and she was so absorbed in Net¬ 
tie’s dilemma that she sat with arms on 
the table and doing nothing but looking 
off into space so that at last her father 
said. “What’s the matter, little girl? 
You haven’t even asked for your favorite 
children’s page of my evening paper,” 
and he handed it over to her. 

This was something that Edna always 
asked for and she took it now with some 
little interest, and roused herself to 
look down the columns. Presently she 
breathed softly. “Oh!” She had seen 
something which gave her an idea for 
Nettie, and she went to bed that night full 
of a hope which she meant her friend 
should know as soon as possible the next 
day. 



CHAPTER IX 


THE PUZZLE 

When Edna awoke on Saturday morn¬ 
ing her first thought was of Nettie and 
she scrambled out of bed that she might 
not lose a moment’s time in telling her of 
the discovery she had made the night be¬ 
fore. She hurried through her breakfast 
and was off to the little house as soon as 
she had been given leave by her mother. 
She carried the page of her father’s paper 
safely folded in her hand, and ran nearly 
all the way, arriving breathless. She 
could scarcely wait for Nettie to open to 
her knock, and her words tumbled over 
each other as she replied to Nettie’s greet¬ 
ing of “How nice and early you are,” by 


166 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


saying, “Oh, I have something so nice to 
tell you.” 

“You had something nice to tell me 
when you came last evening,” returned 
Nettie; “you don’t mean to say there is 
anything more.” 

“Yes, I’ve found a way that maybe you 
can make some money, a dollar.” 

This was exciting, “Oh, do tell me 
quick,” returned Nettie. 

Edna hastily began to open the paper 
she carried, and then she thrust it before 
Nettie, pointing to a line and saying, 
“There, read that.” 

Nettie did as she was told, her eyes 
eagerly running over the words. “Oh, 
Edna,” she said, “do you believe we could 
do it?” 

“Why, of course, but you see the main 
thing is to get it done as quickly as pos¬ 
sible, for the one who gets the answer to 
the puzzle the quickest and who has 



THE PUZZLE 


167 


the clearest answer will get the first prize. 
Maybe we couldn’t get the very first, but 
we could get the second, and that’s a dol¬ 
lar. We must set to work right away. 
I thought we’d do the best we could and 
then we’d get Cousin Ben to fix it up for 
us.” 

“Would that be right?” 

“Oh, I think so, for it doesn’t say you 
mustn’t have any help; it just says the 
one who sends it in the soonest. I left a 
note for Cousin Ben to stop here if he had 
time this morning. 

“Do you think he will?” 

“If he has time. I told him it was 
something very particular. You don’t 
mind his knowing, do you, Nettie? He 
won’t tell, I am sure. You don’t know 
how well he can keep a secret.” 

“No, I don’t mind,” Nettie replied, 
“because he has been here and knows all 
about everything.” 



168 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“Then let’s go at it.” 

“I must finish the dishes first.” 

“Then would you rather I should help 
you with them or start on the puzzle?” 

“I think you’d better start on the puz¬ 
zle.” 

“Very well. I’ve been thinking a little 
about it, and I believe I’ve guessed part. 
They are in the paper every week on Fri¬ 
days, and I often do them, but this is the 
first time I’ve noticed that a prize has 
been offered.” 

She took off her coat and hat, sat down 
at the table and spread out the paper be¬ 
fore her. Nettie furnished paper and 
pencil and then went back to her work in 
the kitchen. The two were busying their 
brains over the puzzle when Ben appeared 
an hour later. 

“Hallo,” he said, “what’s up, kid¬ 
dies?” 

“Why you see,” Edna began, “Nettie 



THE PUZZLE 


169 


has been taken into the club, and when her 
time comes to have the club meeting she 
won’t have any way of getting the re¬ 
freshments, so we thought and thought of 
what we could do to get some money, and 
last night I saw in the Children’s Corner 
of the Times that they would give prizes 
for guessing a puzzle, you know those 
puzzles, Cousin Ben.” 

“Yes, my child, I knew them of yore.” 

“Well, don’t you see if we can only 
guess this one quick and can send in the 
answer right away we might get a dollar, 
anyhow. We have guessed a lot of it, but 
I thought maybe you could help us a little 
and tell us how to fix it up very nicely. 
Have you very much to do to-day?” 

“Not so much but that I can spare you 
a little time for such laudable ambition. 
Where’s your puzzle?” 

Edna produced the paper and then 
showed him what they had already done. 



170 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“Do you think it is right as far as we’ve 
gone?” she asked anxiously. 

He looked over the page she offered 
him. “Pretty good so far. Let me see. 
I think that must be John B. J on B. 
you see.” 

“Of course, it is, why didn’t we think 
of that ? And this one, what do you think 
that can be?” 

Ben looked at this thoughtfully, and 
presently declared he had it. So bit by 
bit the puzzle was completed and within 
an hour was in such shape as pleased the 
girls immensely. 

“Now,” said Ben, “I’ll tell you what I 
can do. I want to take the noon train to 
town and I’ll get this right down to the 
newspaper office myself; I have to go near 
there, and so it will reach them much 
quicker than if it were sent by mail, you 
see.” 

“Oh, Cousin Ben, you are a perfect 



THE PUZZLE 


171 


dear!” cried Edna. “1 think that is just 
lovely of you. We are so much obliged, 
aren’t we, Nettie?” 

“I am very much obliged to both of 
you,” returned Nettie sedately. Edna’s 
interest was so great that she forgot she 
was not doing this for herself at all. 

“Shall we tell your mother?” asked 
Edna when Ben had gone, promising that 
he would attend to the puzzle the very 
first thing. 

“Why—” Nettie hesitated, “I’d like 
to have her know and yet I would love 
dearly to have it for a surprise if we did 
win. When do you suppose we will 
know?” 

“Not before next Friday, I suppose, but 
that will be soon enough, won’t it?” 

“Yes, except that I can scarcely wait 
to know, and it is hard to keep a secret 
from your mother that long.” 

“Why don’t you tell her that you have 



172 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


a secret and that you can’t tell her till 
Friday?” 

“I might do that, but then suppose I 
shouldn’t win; we would both be disap¬ 
pointed.” 

“What did you tell her just now that 
we were all doing?” 

“I told her we were doing a puzzle, and 
she said as long as I had done my morn¬ 
ing’s work I could stay with you. I have 
still my stockings to darn, but I can do 
those this afternoon. Mother always lets 
me do them when I choose; so long as I 
get them done before Sunday, that is all 
she asks.” 

Edna looked very sympathetic. She 
did not have to do her stockings nowadays, 
though she remembered that it had been 
one of the week’s tasks when she was 
staying with Aunt Elizabeth, and it was 
one she much disliked. She stayed a lit¬ 
tle while longer and then returned home, 



THE PUZZLE 


173 


for Dorothy was coining that afternoon 
and they were both going over to see Mar¬ 
garet to make what Dorothy said was 
their party call. 

The weather was quite mild; already 
the buds were beginning to swell on the 
trees, and the crocuses were starting up 
in the little grass plot in front of Net¬ 
tie’s home. Edna stopped to look at them 
as she passed out. She was full of Net¬ 
tie’s secret but she had promised not to 
tell. She wished Cousin Ben would come 
back so she could talk it over with him, 
but he was not to return till late in the 
day and meantime she must occupy her¬ 
self and not say a word of what was up¬ 
permost in her mind. 

She found Celia and Agnes in the li¬ 
brary talking earnestly. There was a 
pleasant aroma of gingerbread pervading 
the house, and the fire in the open grate 
looked very cheerful. What a dear place 



174 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


home was, and how glad she was always 
to get back to it. Agnes held out her 
hand as she came in. “Well, chicka¬ 
biddy,” she said, “where have you been? 
You are as rosy as an apple.” 

“I’ve been down to Nettie’s. I’m glad 
I don’t have to darn my stockings.” 

“Does Nettie have to?” 

“Yes, and she has to wash the dishes, 
too. I did darn my stockings last year, 
but Katie does them all this year, so I 
don’t even have to be sorry for mother 
and think of her doing them, for Katie is 
paid to do them.” 

Agnes laughed. “But I have no doubt 
you would do them just as cheerfully as 
Nettie does, if you had to do them.” 

“I don’t know about the cheerful part, 
but I wouldn’t yell and scream.” 

“Let us hope you would not,” said Ce¬ 
lia. “I should hope you knew better 
than to behave like that.” 



THE PUZZLE 


175 


“Of course,” said Edna. “What were 
you talking about, you two?” 

“Shall we tell her, Agnes?” asked Ce¬ 
lia. 

“Why not ? It will soon be talked over 
by all of us.” 

“Well, we were talking of having some¬ 
thing very special for the last meeting of 
the club, after school closes. You see 
most of the girls go away for the sum¬ 
mer, and we shall have to give the club 
a holiday, too. ’ ’ 

“What nice special thing were you 
thinking of?” 

“We thought if we could have some 
nice little fairy play and have it out of 
doors, it would be lovely. We would in¬ 
vite our parents and the teachers and 
have a real big affair.” 

“How perfectly lovely. What is the 
play?” 

“Oh, dear, we haven’t come to that yet. 



176 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


We did think some of having ‘ Alice in 
Wonderland/ but that has been done so 
often. We were wishing for something 
original. ” 

“Why don’t you get Cousin Ben to help 
you? He has so many funny things to 
say about the woodsy creatures.” 

“The very one. Why didn’t we think 
of him before, Agnes? He may be silly 
about some things, but he would certainly 
have ideas about that. Where is he, 
Edna?” 

“He has gone in town, and won’t be 
back till late in the afternoon.” 

“Trust you for keeping track of his 
movements,” said Celia laughing. “I 
don’t believe Ben yawns but Edna knows 
it. Well, we will see what he says this 
evening.” 

“Couldn’t you and he come to our house 
after supper?” asked Agnes. 

“I’ll find out and ’phone you when he 



THE PUZZLE 


177 


comes in. He doesn’t generally have 
anything special on hand Saturdays, un¬ 
less something is going on at the Aber¬ 
crombies’.” 

This gave Edna a new theme to think of 
and in consequence she did not find it hard 
to keep from talking of Nettie’s secret 
when she and Dorothy met that after¬ 
noon. 

They took the news of the probable 
play to Margaret who wanted at once to 
tell Mrs. MacDonald about it. She 
showed great interest and asked all sorts 
of questions. “Why couldn’t you have it 
here in my grounds ? ’ ’ she asked. ‘ 1 There 
is a good place just back of the house 
where the terrace is. I hope you will let 
it be Margaret’s meeting and let me 
furnish everything.” 

“Oh, Mrs. Mac, there will be ever and 
ever so many people, for we are going to 
ask our families and the teachers and all 



178 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


those.” Edna was quite overpowered. 

“Well, what of that? Haven’t I as 
much right to entertain them as any of 
the others have, and have I less room than 
my neighbors?” 

“Why, no, you have more.” 

“Very well, then. I put in my plea 
the first one and I hope you will lay it be¬ 
fore your next meeting.” She spoke al¬ 
most as if she were angry but there was a 
merry little twinkle in her eyes which 
the girls had come to know well. The 
next words were, “Go out, Margaret, and 
ask Lizzie to send in some of the day’s 
baking for your friends. There must be 
scones, or something of that kind.” The 
girls liked the Scotchy things, as they 
called them, that Mrs. MacDonald had for 
them, and the hot scones, with a “wee 
bittie” of honey or jam were generally 
as pleasant a treat as they found any¬ 
where. 



THE PUZZLE 


179 


When Edna had returned from her 
visit she told Celia of what Mrs. Mac¬ 
Donald had offered and before they had 
finished talking of it, Cousin Ben came in, 
and was immediately set upon, though 
Edna ran out to meet him in the hall that 
she might whisper, “Did you leave it all 
right ?” 

“First thing,” he returned. “It 
couldn’t have been an hour from the time 
I left you before it was at the office.” 

“Oh, goody, goody!” exclaimed Edna 
softly, patting her hands together. 
“Agnes has been here, Cousin Ben, and 
Celia wants to ask you something. Come 
into the library, please.” 

He followed her in and the subject was 
opened to him of the little fairy play. 

He shook his head. “Can’t promise. 
That’s a good deal to spring on a fellow 
unbeknownst. I’ll have to think about 
it.” 



180 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“But can’t you go over to Agnes’s this 
evening to talk it over?” asked Celia. 

Now Ben admired Agnes very much, 
though he would not have it known for 
the world. “I was going to Abercrom¬ 
bies,” he said with apparent reluctance. 

“Oh, but you see Will Abercrombie 
every day,” said Celia coaxingly, “and 
we do so want to have your help, Ben.” 

“Well, perhaps I can ’phone to Will not 
to expect me,” said Ben giving in. “But 
if I take hold of this thing you girls will 
all have to do your part.” 

“Oh, we will,” Celia promised ear¬ 
nestly. “We are none of us up to an 
original play, but you are.” 

“Such flattery,” laughed Ben. “Well, 
if I am going to call on ladies I must go 
up and make myself look respectable.” 

“He’ll do it,” said Celia, as soon as her 
cousin had left the room. “He has as 
good as promised.” 



THE PUZZLE 


181 


Whatever was said that evening was 
not reported, but it is enough to say that 
Ben had promised to see what he could 
do, and would let them know later when 
he had gone over the subject more thor¬ 
oughly, so with this the girls had to be 
satisfied. 

There was no more to be heard of either 
puzzle or play during the week while 
school was occupying them all, but on 
Friday Mrs. MacDonald’s offer was pre¬ 
sented to the club and unanimously ac¬ 
cepted with thanks. 

There was no delay in Edna’s demand 
for the evening paper on that Friday, but 
to her great disappointment her father 
found that he had left it in the car, and 
there was no way to get another copy till 
the next day. Edna was almost in tears, 
for she had so counted on letting Nettie 
know the very first thing in the morning. 

“I am so sorry,” said her father. “I 



182 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


forgot entirely that the Friday issue was 
the one in which you are always so inter¬ 
ested. I will bring you out a copy to¬ 
morrow, daughter. I will try not to 
forget it, but I give you leave to call me 
up on the long distance, or rather the out- 
of-town line and get you to remind me. 
If you will call, say, at about ten o’clock, 
I will send one of the boys out for it from 
the office.” 

This was certainly more than Edna had 
any right to expect, and she thanked him 
as heartily as she could, though deep down 
in her heart the disappointment still 
lingered and she felt that it would be 
harder still for Nettie to wait another day. 

However, she went early to the little 
house as she had promised, and saw Nettie 
at the window on the watch for her. She 
looked so pleased when she saw her friend 
that Edna was all the more grieved at 
having to tell her she must wait till even- 



THE PUZZLE 


183 


ing. “Oh, I am so glad you have come,” 
cried Nettie as she met her at the door. 
“I have been watching for you for ages.” 
And she drew her inside. 



CHAPTEB X 


A DOWNFALL OF PRIDE 

“Oh, Edna, Edna!” Nettie jumped up 
and down and fairly hugged her friend in 
her joy. 

“Why, why,” Edna began, but Nettie 
interrupted her with “I have it! I have 
it!” 

“Have what?” Edna was still mysti¬ 
fied. 

“The prize! The prize! I won it. 
The money came in the mail this morn¬ 
ing.” 

Edna had not counted on this pos¬ 
sibility and it was as much of a surprise 
to her as it had been to Nettie. “Oh! 
Oh! Oh!” she cried, and she, too, began 
184 


A DOWNFALL OF PRIDE 


185 


to dance up and down hugging Nettie as 
fervently as Nettie had hugged her. 
“Have you told your mother?” 

“Oh, yes, I couldn’t possibly keep it.” 

“Do show me what they said.” So 
Nettie took her in and showed her the 
precious letter with the enclosed order for 
a dollar, which made it seem a very real 
thing. 

“Ben will be so pleased,” said Edna 
with satisfaction. “It is really owing to 
him that it got there soon enough.” 

“And to you for helping me and for 
telling me in the first place. I think I 
ought to divide with you.” 

“Why, Nettie Black, you won’t do any 
such thing. Don’t you know that it was 
all on your account that we did it in the 
first place?” 

“ Ye-es, but after your doing so much it 
doesn’t seem fair for you to have none of 
it.” 



186 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“I’ll have some of the refreshments, 
won’t I?” 

Nettie laughed. “I hope so.” 

‘ ‘ Have you decided what you will 
have?” 

“Not exactly. I thought I would wait 
till you came to talk it over with mother. 
You said something about gingerbread 
and my mother can make the nicest you 
ever saw.” 

“Would she make some for you? I 
wonder if it would cost very much. None 
of the girls have had gingerbread, and I 
am sure it would be liked.” 

“Then let’s go see what mother says.” 

Mrs. Black was in the kitchen making 
bread for her Saturday baking. She 
smiled on the two children’s eager faces 
which showed that something of unusual 
interest was going on. “Mother,” began 
Nettie, “you know I am to have the club 
meeting after a while, and it is to be at the 



A DOWNFALL OF PRIDE 


187 


general club-room at Miss Agnes Evans’s 
house, and you know we always have re¬ 
freshments,” Nettie spoke as if she had 
already attended every meeting, when that 
of the afternoon before had been her very 
first. 

“Yes, 1 remember you told me, dear,” 
said her mother. 

“And I told you that was why we tried 
for the puzzle prize, so that I could pay 
for my refreshments. Does gingerbread 
cost very much?” 

“No, my dear, it costs less than any 
other kind of cake.” 

“But how much? I mean how much 
would it cost to make enough for—for 
fourteen girls?” 

“Why, not a great deal. I could bake 
them in the little scalloped pans so they 
would be more crusty. I don’t believe it 
would cost more than twenty-five cents, 
for you know we have our own eggs.” 



188 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“Good! Then what else could I have? 
We can’t have more than three things.” 

“Let me think for a minute and I will 
perhaps be able to suggest something.” 
She went on kneading her bread while 
the children watched her. Presently she 
said: “I have a bottle of raspberry shrub 
that your Aunt Henrietta gave me and 
which we have never used. Would you 
like to have that ? I can recommend it as 
a very nice drink, and I should be very 
glad to donate it.” 

“Would it be nice?” Nettie looked at 
Edna for endorsement. 

“I think it would be perfectly deli¬ 
cious,” she decided, “and nobody has had 
anything like that. We have had ginger 
ale and lemonade, and chocolate and such 
things.” 

“Then, mother, that will be very nice, 
thank you,” said Nettie, as if Edna were 
at the other end of a telephone wire. 



A DOWNFALL OF PEIDE 


189 


“Now for number three. I shall have 
ever so much to spend on that, so I could 
have most anything. ” 

“What have the other girls had?” Mrs. 
Black asked Edna. 

“Oh, different things. Some have had 
sandwiches and chocolate and some kind 
of candy, and some have had ice cream 
and cake and candy; some have had—let 
me see—cake and lemonade and fruit, but 
the third thing is generally some kind of 
candy.” 

“Do you remember what Uncle David 
sent us last week?” Mrs. Black asked 
Nettie. 

‘‘ The maple sugar ? Oh, yes, but would 
it be nice to have just little chunks of 
maple sugar?” 

“No, but don’t you know what delicious 
creamy candies we made by boiling and 
stirring it? Why not do some of it that 
way ? It would be a little out of the 



190 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


usual run, and quite unlike what is bought 
at the shops.’’ 

“What do you think, Edna?” Nettie 
again appealed to her friend. 

“I think it would be fine. Oh, Nettie 
you will have things that aren’t a bit like 
anyone else has had and they will all be 
so good. I am sure the girls will say 
so.” 

Nettie beamed. This was such a pleas¬ 
ant thing to hear. “But I haven’t spent 
but twenty-five cents of my prize money, ’ ’ 
she said. 

“Are you so very sorry for that?” her 
mother asked. 

“No, but— Is it all mine, mother, to 
do what I choose with, even if I don’t 
spend it for the club?” 

“Why, of course, my dear. You earned 
it, and if I am able to help you out a little 
that should make no difference.” 

“Then I think I know what I should 



A DOWNFALL OF PRIDE 


191 


like to do with it. I shall make two 
secrets of it and one I shall tell you, 
mother, and the other I can tell Edna.” 

“Tell me mine now,” said Edna getting 
down from the chair. 

Nettie took her off into the next room 
where there was much whispering for the 
next few minutes. * 6 1 shall get something 
for mother,” Nettie explained. “I don’t 
know exactly what but I will find out what 
she needs the most.” 

“I think that is a perfectly lovely 
plan,” agreed Edna. “Now I must go 
back and tell Ben, for he will want to 
know. You come up this afternoon, Net¬ 
tie, won’t you?” 

Nettie promised, and after Edna had 
gone she said to her mother, “Mother, I 
think I will spend part of my money on a 
birthday gift for Edna. It was all her 
doings about the puzzle and I would like 
to have her have something I could buy 



192 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


with the money. Will you help me?” 

“ Indeed I will, my dear, and I think 
that is an excellent plan.” 

So Nettie had her two secrets and in 
time both gifts were given. 

Her meeting was an interesting one. 
The girls always liked the old attic and it 
was seldom that a meeting there did not 
turn out to be one which was thoroughly 
enjoyed. The refreshments received even 
more praise than Edna had predicted, for 
not a crumb of gingerbread, not a single 
maple-sugar cream, nor a drop of rasp¬ 
berry shrub was left, and the honorary 
member went home in an exalted frame of 
mind. 

On the very evening of this meeting, 
while Edna was looking over her favorite 
page of her father’s paper, she heard him 
say to his wife. “Humph. That was a 
bad failure of Green and Adams to-day. 
Adams was a pretty high-flyer, and a good 



A DOWNFALL OF PRIDE 


193 


many of the men on the ’Change have 
been prophesying this crash.” 

“What Adams is that?” asked Mrs. 
Conway. 

“Oliver Adams. He lives on the 
square, you know, in that large white 
house with the lions in front.” 

Edna pricked up her ears. “Is it 
Clara Adams’s father?” she asked. 

“Does she live on the square?” asked 
her mother. 

“Yes, in a big white house with lions in 
front just like father said.” 

“Then, of course, it is the same.” 

“What has happened to him, mother?” 

“He has lost a great deal of money, 
dear?” 

“Oh, poor Clara.” 

“I’m afraid she will be poor Clara sure 
enough, ’ ’ returned her father. 6 6 He can’t 
keep up that way of living very long. 
His wife is as extravagant as he is, and 



194 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


I doubt if there is much left out of the 
estate.’ ’ 

Edna wondered if Clara would have to 
live in a tiny, little house like Nettie’s 
and if she would be very unhappy.- 
Would she leave school, and— There 
were so many wonderings that she asked 
her mother a great many questions, and 
went oft on Monday morning feeling quite 
ready to give Clara all the sympathy she 
needed. 

But Clara was not at school on Monday, 
but on the next day she appeared. The 
news of her father’s failure was common 
talk so that every girl in school had heard 
of it, and wondered if it would have any 
effect on Clara. For a time it did not, 
but in a short time it was whispered about 
that the Adamses had removed to another 
street and into a much smaller house. 
Clara no longer came to school in the 
automobile, and those girls who had clung 



A DOWNFALL OF PRIDE 


195 


to her on account of the powers of riches 
now openly deserted, declared that she 
had left their neighborhood and in conse¬ 
quence could no longer belong to their 
club. Then in a little while it was an¬ 
nounced that the club had disbanded, and 
the remaining members came in a body 
and begged that they might be taken into 
the G. R.’s. There was much discussion. 
Some were for, some were against it, but 
finally the rule of the club was acted upon 
and the five new members took their 
places, leaving Clara in lonely grandeur. 
She treated this desertion with such open 
scorn and was so very unpleasant to those 
who had formerly been her friends, that 
they turned their backs upon her utterly, 
declaring that they would rather pay a 
fine every day in the week than be nice 
to Clara Adams. 

“Hateful thing!” Edna heard Nellie 
Haskell say one day quite loud enough 



196 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


for Clara to hear. “She’s kept us out of 
a lot of fun and we were geese to keep 
in with her so long. I’m sorry I ever 
had anything to do with her. I think she 
is the most disagreeable girl that ever 
was.” 

Edna looked over at Clara who was 
sitting very still by herself on a bench in 
one corner of the playground. She looked 
after the three girls who had just passed 
and were now walking down the path 
with their arms around one another. 
So had she seen them with Clara not so 
very long before. She thought she would 
go over and say something to her old 
enemy, but what to say— She had no 
good excuse. Then she remembered an 
exceedingly pretty paper-doll which had 
been sent her by her Cousin Louis Morri¬ 
son. His aunt had painted it and it was 
much handsomer than one ordinarily 
saw. Edna had it in the book she car- 



A DOWNFALL OF PRIDE 


197 


ried. She drew in her breath quickly, 
then started over to Clara’s corner. 

4 4 Don’t you want to see my paper-doll V ’ 
she asked. 44 It is such a beauty.” And 
without waiting for an answer she 
opened her book and held out the doll for 
Clara to see. It was given rather a 
grudging glance, but it was really too 
pretty not to be admired and Clara re¬ 
plied with a show of indifference, 4 4 It is 
quite pretty, isn’t it?” 

Edna sat down by her. 44 I will show 
you some of her dresses,” she went on. 
Clara loved paper-dolls, and she could not 
but be a little interested. Anything which 
was painted or drawn was of more inter¬ 
est to her than most things. She had 
shown her talent in that way by the fatal 
caricature. 

44 Somebody told me you could make 
mighty pretty paper-dolls,” Edna went 
on, bound to make herself agreeable. 



198 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“1 do make them sometimes,’’ replied 
Clara a little more graciously, “but I 
could never make any as pretty as this. 
I can copy things pretty well, but I can’t 
make them up myself.” 

For a moment Edna struggled with her¬ 
self. The doll was a new and very pre¬ 
cious possession, but— She hesitated 
only a moment and then she said: 
“Would you like to copy this? I will 
lend it to you if you would like to.” 

There was a time when Clara might 
have spurned even this kind offer, setting 
it down as “trying to get in” with her, 
but her pride and vanity had received a 
blow when the Neighborhood Club was 
broken up and she cast forth, and she took 
the offer in the spirit in which it was 
meant. “Oh, would you do that?” she 
said. “I should love to copy it and I will 
take awfully good care of the doll.” 

“You can take it now,” said Edna lay- 






V y ft ft 

mm 






'ilYj' 




lpiilli»« 


y.-::>y.<\ 


v. .;.v.v/,>'»V. , «V/ 1 V////.\ t , i *,v«Vi%SV...V, 

- 

' 

.. 


gfSx§JX<-yJ:;; : 




;.\v>:.' V •’-//'yj’ixJ' *, 


“Don't You Want to See my Paper Doll? It is Such a 

Beauty/ - ' 






























A DOWNFALL OF PRIDE 


199 


ing the doll on the other’s lap. There 
should be no chance for her to change her 
mind. Clara slipped the doll into one of 
her books and just then the bell rang, 
so they went in together. 

After school Dorothy clutched her 
chirm. “Edna Conway,” she cried, “did 
I see you talking to Clara Adams?” 

“Um-huh,” returned Edna. 

“Well, you are the greatest one. I 
should think after all she has done that 
you would want to keep as far away from 
her as possible.” 

“Well,” said Edna. “I said I was go¬ 
ing to be nice to her if ever I had the 
chance and I had the chance.” 

“If you are going with her, I can tell 
you that all the girls will turn their backs 
on you.” 

“I didn’t say I was going with her all 
the time, but I don’t see why I can’t speak 
to her if I want to.” 



200 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“Oh, I suppose you can speak, but I 
shouldn’t do much more than that.” 

Edna made no reply. She had her own 
ideas of what she meant to do. 

“Where is your paper-doll 1” asked 
Dorothy, “I want to show it to Agnes.” 

“I haven’t it with me,” returned Edna 
a little confusedly. 

“You had it when we went down to 
recess. Is it in your desk? Go on and 
get it, that is a dear. Agnes wants to see 
it.” 

“It isn’t in my desk. I haven’t it,” re¬ 
turned Edna bluntly. 

“You don’t mean to say you have 
given it away? Edna Conway, you can’t 
have given it to Clara Adams!” Dor¬ 
othy’s voice expressed horror and dismay. 

“No, I haven’t given *it to her; I only 
lent it to her,” replied Edna. 

“Well, of all things!” Dorothy was 
stricken dumb for a moment. Then she 



A DOWNFALL OF PRIDE 


201 


put her arms around her friend and 
hugged her. “You are an angel,” she 
said. “I couldn’t have done such a thing 
to save me, and I don’t believe there is 
another girl in the school who could. 
I’m going to tell Agnes.” 

“Oh, please don’t,” begged Edna. 

But Dorothy was off and presently 
Agnes came over to where the two had 
been standing. “What did you lend 
Clara your doll for, Edna 1 ?” she asked. 

“Because I didn’t want to pay a fine,” 
replied she. 

Agnes laughed. “That is one way out 
of it. I suppose the next thing we know 
you will be proposing that we ask Clara 
Adams into our club. Half the girls will 
leave if you do, I can promise you that.” 

This was something very like a threat, 
and it had the effect Agnes meant it 
should, though it did not prevent Edna 
from making plans of her own concerning 



202 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


Clara. She smiled at her as she took her 
seat in class the next morning, and for 
the very first time in all her life she 
received from Clara a smile in return. 



CHAPTER XI 


A NEW MEMBER 

During this time Miss Newman had not 
won more than respect from her girls. 
She was an excellent teacher and kept 
good order, but she had too severe a man¬ 
ner to call forth affection. Nevertheless 
she did appreciate any little kindness 
done her, and was not unwilling to repay 
when the opportunity came. Dorothy 
and Edna had always stood up for her, 
and had brought her the small gifts which 
children like to take their teachers, a par¬ 
ticularly large and rosy apple, a bunch 
of flowers, a more important present at 
Christmas and a growing plant at Easter. 
They did not know much about her home 
life, for she was not the affable person 
203 


204 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


Miss Ashurst had been. Uncle Justus 
had told Edna that she lived with an 
invalid sister in quite a different quarter 
of the city, and that she had a long way 
to come to school. 

One spring afternoon as Celia and 
Edna were starting forth, a sudden shower 
overtook them. They were going home 
every day now as they had done in the 
early fall, and were hurrying for their 
train when they saw Miss Newman just 
ahead of them without an umbrella. 
“There’s Miss Newman,” said Edna to 
her sister, “and she has no umbrella; I’m 
going to give her mine and come under 
yours, Celia,” then before Celia could 
say a word she ran on ahead. “Please 
take my umbrella, Miss Newman,” she 
said. “I can go under Celia’s.” 

“But you may need it before Monday,” 
said Miss Newman. 

“Oh, no, I won’t, for I am going 



A NEW MEMBER 


205 


straight home. We are to have a club 
meeting at the Evanses this afternoon, or 
I should not be in such a hurry.” 

“And I am in a hurry, too,” said Miss 
Newman, “for I am very anxious to get 
home to my sister. Thank you very 
much for the umbrella. I should have 
had to go in somewhere, it is pouring so, 
and that would have delayed me.” 

By this time Celia came up and Edna 
slipped under her sister’s umbrella. 
They took their car at the next corner, 
but they saw Miss Newman standing on 
the other side waiting for the car which 
should come along somewhat later. 
“Poor thing,” said Edna as she looked 
from the car window; “she would have 
been soaked, Celia, if she had had to 
stand there without an umbrella, and she 
has a cold now.” 

Celia smiled. “I believe you would 
love a chimpanzee, or a snake, Edna.” 



206 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“I think little green snakes are very 
pretty,’’ returned Edna calmly. “Cousin 
Ben likes them, too. He showed me one 
in the grass last Sunday. I felt sorry 
for it because nearly everybody hates 
snakes, and Cousin Ben said this one was 
perfectly harmless.” 

“I draw the line at snakes,” returned 
Celia. “I suppose you feel sorry for 
Miss Newman.” 

“Yes, I do; she is so unpretty.” 

Celia laughed. “That is a delicate way 
of putting it, I am sure. Well, I am glad 
she has one friend; no doubt she needs it. 
Most of the girls aren’t so ready to say 
nice things of her as they were of Miss 
Ashurst.” 

“I know it,” replied Edna, “and that 
is one reason Dorothy and I stand up for 
her. We say suppose we were as—as 
ugly as that, and had to go a long, long 
way to school every day to teach horrid 



A NEW MEMBER 


207 


girls who didn’t be nice to us, how would 
we like it?” 

“She looks like a cross old thing,” 
returned Celia rather flippantly. 

“She isn’t exactly cross, hut she isn’t 
the kind you can lean up against and say 
‘what a pretty tie you have on,’ as we did 
with Miss Ashurst. Celia, I am afraid 
Miss Newman never will get married.” 

Celia laughed. “Perhaps she doesn’t 
want to. Everyone doesn’t, you know.” 

This was rather beyond Edna’s com¬ 
prehension, and she sat pondering over 
the extraordinary statement till the car 
reached the station. She arrived early 
in the school-room on Monday morning to 
find Miss Newman already there. She 
looked up with a smile as the little girl 
entered. “I brought back your um¬ 
brella,” she said. “I don’t kmrw what I 
should have done without it. I left my 
sister rather worse than usual and I 



208 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


wanted very much to get home as soon as 
possible.’’ 

“Is your sister ill 1 ?” asked Edna 

“She is never very well. When she 
was a little girl, younger than you, she fell 
and hurt her spine. She has never been 
well since, and at times suffers very 
much.” 

“How was she this morning?” asked 
Edna sympathetically. 

“She was much better. I left her sit¬ 
ting on the porch in the sun. She can 
walk only a few steps, you see, and some¬ 
times has to be lifted from place to 
place.” 

“Who lifts her?” Edna was much 
interested at this peep into Miss New¬ 
man’s life. 

“I do when I am there, for I know just 
how to do it without hurting her.” 

“Will she sit there all day where you 
left her?” 



A NEW MEMBER 


209 


<4 0h, no, for she has a wheeling chair 
and the old woman who lives with ns can 
wheel her in when she is ready to go.” 

“Tell me some more.” Edna leaned 
her elbows on the table and looked at her 
teacher with a wistful look. She did feel 
so very sorry for this poor sister who 
could not walk. 

44 She is a very cheerful, bright person,” 
Miss Newman went on, 4 4 and everyone 
loves her. She is very fond of children 
and is continually doing something for 
those in the neighborhood. It is far from 
being a wealthy street, and back of us 
there are many very poor people. At 
Christmas we had a tree for the ones who 
couldn’t have one at home, and my sister 
made nearly everything on it, such pretty 
things they were, too. There was a 
present for each child.” 

44 I think that was perfectly lovely,” 
said Edna. This was the kind of thing 



210 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


that appealed to her. “What is your 
sister’s name*?” 

“Her name is Eloise.” 

“I think that is a beautiful name. I 
should like very much to see her.” 

“She would like very much to see you, 
for she knows every one of my class, and 
asks about each one when I go home. 
You see she cannot go out into the 
world where I go, I have to take what I 
can of it to her.” It was evident that 
this was the subject which was nearest to 
the teacher’s heart, and that when talking 
of it she showed the gentlest side of her 
nature. “How would you like to go 
home with me this afternoon to see her, 
you and Dorothy Evans?” 

“I would love to go, but are you sure 
she would like to have us come?” 

“I don’t know of anything that would 
please her more. She has never seen one 
of my pupils and has often longed to, for 



A NEW MEMBER 


211 


as I told you she has to see the world 
through my eyes, and anything that inter¬ 
ests me interests her.” 

“I’ll tell Dorothy as soon as she comes 
and I will ask Celia if I may go. Thank 
you, Miss Newman for inviting us.” 
Then a number of girls came in and 
school was called to order before Edna 
had a chance to speak to her sister. 

At recess, however, the matter was 
talked over, both Agnes and Celia listen¬ 
ing attentively. “I don’t think they 
ought to go home with Miss Newman,” 
decided Agnes, “for she probably has 
dinner as soon as she gets home and it 
would make extra trouble. If they could 
go later it might be all right. I’d better 
go and talk to Miss Newman myself, 
then we can tell better what can be done.” 
She went off and soon came back to say 
that she had arranged to go with the little 
girls later in the afternoon. “We can 



212 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


take a car from there which will connect 
with our line and in that way we shall not 
have to come all the way back into the 
city.” 

But a better arrangement than that was 
made, for when Margaret and Jennie 
heard of the affair they were so eager to 
be included in the party, that Miss New¬ 
man noticing their wistfulness, asked if 
they, too, would come. “ There is noth¬ 
ing my sister likes better than to have 
a company of children around her to 
whom she can tell some tale. She is a 
great one for that, and often has as many 
as a dozen children on the porch,” she 
told them. 

“Then, I will tell you what we can do,” 
said Jennie. “I know mother will say 
we may all go in the motor-car, and I can 
take you girls home just as well as not. 
I will call mother up now and tell her all 
about it.” So in a few minutes the whole 



A NEW MEMBER 


213 


matter was arranged by telephone. The 
three little girls, Edna, Dorothy and Mar¬ 
garet were to go home with Jennie to 
luncheon and then they would make the 
start from there. 

“That is just like the Ramseys,’’ said 
Agnes, “they always come forward at 
just the right moment and do the thing 
that makes it pleasantest all around. 
Now we can go home at the usual time, 
Celia feeling perfectly safe about the 
girls.” 

Therefore about three o’clock on this 
bright afternoon in May they set forth 
in the automobile which was to take them 
to Miss Newman’s and call for them later. 
Through a very unfamiliar part of the 
city they went till they came to a short 
street with a row of small houses on each 
side. Each house had a garden in front 
and a porch. In the very last one which 
had more ground around it than the rest, 



214 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


Miss Newman lived. The porch was 
covered with vines and in the garden 
there was a perfect wealth of flowers. A 
bird-cage in which a canary was singing, 
hung near the window. One end of the 
porch was screened by a bamboo shade. 
It was a very pretty nesty little place. 
Huddled down in a chair, with her head 
supported by pillows was Miss Eloise who 
smiled up at the girls as Miss Newman 
brought them forward one after another. 
Miss Eloise had a much more lovely face 
than her sister. Her eyes were beautiful, 
she had quantities of wavy dark hair, a 
sweet mouth and a delicate nose. The 
hand she held out was so small and fragile 
that when Edna clasped it in her plump 
fingers it seemed almost as if she were 
holding the claws of some bird. 

“So this is Edna,” she said. “She 
looks just as I thought she did. Dorothy 
I know her by her hair, and Margaret 



A NEW MEMBER 


215 


because she is the tallest of them, so of 
course the one left must be Jennie. I am 
so pleased to see you all. Sister, will you 
wheel me just a little further back so 
there will be more room for us alii” 

Miss Newman was quick to spring to 
her sister’s side, wheeling the chair at just 
the right angle, settling the pillows, and 
then passing her hand caressingly over 
Miss Eloise’s dark locks. The girls 
could not imagine her so tender. 

“I hope you are feeling well to-day,” 
began Edna to start the conversation. 

“Who wouldn’t feel well in such glori¬ 
ous weather. It is such a beautiful 
world, and has so many interesting things 
in it. How is your sister, Edna 1” 

“She is very well,” replied Edna, sur¬ 
prised that Miss Eloise should know she 
had a sister. 

“And yours, Dorothy 1 I hear she is 
such a sweet, pretty girl.” 



216 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


Dorothy likewise surprised, made 
answer that Agnes was very well and 
would have come with them but that the 
four of them came in the Ramseys ’ motor¬ 
car. 

“ And wasn’t it fun to see it come whirl¬ 
ing up?” said Miss Eloise. “It was the 
very first time a motor-car ever came to 
our door, and I was excited over it. I 
think it was very sweet of Mrs. Ramsey 
to give me this pleasure, and, Margaret 
I cannot tell you how I enjoyed the 
flowers you used to bring to sister in the 
winter. Your mother must have the love¬ 
liest greenhouse. I never saw such fine 
big stalks of mignonette. We shall have 
mignonette a little later, for our flowers 
are coming on finely. As for the books 
you all gave sister at Christmas they have 
been a perfect feast. I am so glad to 
have you here and to be able to thank 
you for all the things you have done to 



A NEW MEMBER 


217 


make the long winter go more quickly for 
me.” 

The girls looked at one another. If 
they had known what their little gifts 
were to mean, how many times they 
could have added to them. They had not 
a word to say for they had not understood 
how a little ripple of kindness may widen 
till it touches an unknown shore. 

“Now tell me about your club,” Miss 
Eloise went on. “I should so like to hear 
what you did at the last meeting. Sister 
tells me all she can, but she doesn’t have 
a chance to learn as much as I should 
like. I am so greedy, you see. I am like 
a child who says when you tell it a story, 
and think you have finished, ‘ Tell on. ’ I 
am always crying ‘Tell on.’ It is the 
most beautiful club I ever heard of and I 
am sorry I am not a little girl at your 
school so I could belong to it and enjoy 
the good times with you.” 




218 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“But, darling, you have your own little 
club,” said her sister, “and you are always 
thinking of what you can do for others.” 

“Oh, I know, but I live in such a tiny 
little world, and my ‘little drops of water, 
little grains of sand’ are such wee 
things.” 

“They mean a great deal more than you 
imagine,” said her sister gently. “I am 
sure I could never live without them.” 

“Oh, that is because you make so much 
of me and what I do. She is a great 
sister,” she said nodding to the girls. 
“She is a regular Atlas because she has 
to bring her world home on her back every 
day to me. Yes, indeed. Perhaps you 
don’t think I am aware of all that goes on 
in that school-room. Why I even know 
when one of you misses a lesson, and if 
you will let me tell you a secret, I actually 
cried the day Clara Adams did the carica¬ 
ture.” 



A NEW MEMBER 


219 


“Oh, dear, oh, dear,” Edna could not 
help sighing aloud while the other girls 
looked as much ashamed as if they had 
done the thing themselves. However, 
when Miss Eloise saw this she broke into 
a laugh and began to tell them of some 
very funny thing she had seen from the 
porch that morning, then followed one 
funny tale after another till the girls 
were all laughing till the tears ran down 
their cheeks. Miss Eloise had the droll¬ 
est way of telling things, and the merriest 
laugh herself. After a while Miss New¬ 
man went inside and presently came out 
with a tray on which were glasses of 
lemonade and a plate of small cakes. 
These were passed around, and much en¬ 
joyed. 

“Now tell them one of your stories,” 
said Miss Newman to her sister. 

“Shall I make up a new one or shall I 
tell them one of the old ones?” 



220 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“Tell them the one the Maginnis chil¬ 
dren like so much.” 

The children settled themselves in 
pleased anticipation, and a marvelous 
tale they listened to. Miss Bloise had a 
wonderful gift of- story-telling and made 
every incident seem real and every char¬ 
acter to stand out as vividly as if he or 
she were actually before them. The 
children listened in wrapt attention. She 
was a wonder to them. 

The tale was scarcely over when up 
came the motor-car with Mrs. Ramsey in 
it. She stepped out and came in the gate 
and up to the porch. “I wanted to come, 
too, Miss Newman,” she said. “I hope 
you don’t mind.” 

“Oh, mother,” cried Jennie, “you are 
just too late to hear the most beautiful 
story ever was.” 

“Now isn’t that too bad?” said Mrs. 
Ramsey. “I feel guilty to interrupt this 



A NEW MEMBER 


221 


pleasant party, but I am afraid I shall 
have to take these girls home for it is 
getting late.” 

However, she did not hurry them and 
there was time for her to have a little talk 
with both Miss Newman and Miss Eloise. 
Just as she was about to take her leave 
she asked, “Do you think you would be 
able to take a little ride in the motor-car, 
Miss Eloise, if I were to come for you 
some day?” 

“Oh, sister, could I?” Miss Eloise 
turned to Miss Newman, her eyes like 
stars. “I haven’t been off this street for 
years,” she said to Mrs. Ramsey. 

“We would be very careful,” said Mrs. 
Ramsey, seeing that Miss Newman looked 
doubtful. “The man could wheel the 
chair out to the car and could lift her in. 
It runs very smoothly and we would not 
go too fast nor on any of the streets which 
are not asphalt.” 



222 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“Oh, sister!” Miss Eloise looked as 
pleadingly as any child. 

“I have never wheeled her further than 
the corner,” said Miss Newman, “for fear 
of the jolting when we had to go over the 
curb, but some day when she is feeling her 
best—” 

“You will let me know—” put in Mrs. 
Ramsey eagerly. “Of course you will go, 
too, Miss Newman, and as soon as you 
think she has gone far enough we can 
come back. You know it is quite smooth 
and the riding easy going even as far as 
Brookside.” 

“Why that is our station,” spoke up 
Edna. 

Mrs. Ramsey nodded and smiled, and 
they said their good-bys leaving Miss 
Eloise feeling as if a new world were to 
open to her. 

Of course Mrs. Ramsey listened to a 
full account of all that had gone on dur- 



A NEW MEMBER 


223 


ing the afternoon, and was deeply inter¬ 
ested in the two sisters. 6 ‘ I just love Miss 
Newman,” declared Dorothy. “She is 
the sweetest thing to her sister.” 

“They just adore one another,” Jennie 
told her mother. “Miss Newman seems 
like some one else when I think of her 
now. I am so glad we went.” 

“So am I,” replied her mother. 

“And Miss Eloise knows all about our 
club and is so interested in it,” Edna 
remarked. “Girls, we must always tell 
Miss Newman about the meetings after 
this so she can tell Miss Eloise all that 
goes on.” 

“Of course we must,” they agreed. 

“I know something better than that you 
could do,” Mrs. Ramsey told them. 
“Why not make Miss Eloise an honorary 
member as you did Nettie Black ? I think 
you could stretch your rule far enough not 
to make it out of the way to have one 



224 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


grown up person, when it is such a char¬ 
acter as Miss Eloise. She could be the 
exception who will prove the rule.” 

“But, Mrs. Ramsey, she couldn’t come 
to the meetings.” Dorothy reminded 
her. 

“No, but you could take turns in going 
to her; I mean you could appoint a com¬ 
mittee of two to go to her each week and 
tell her about the previous meeting, then 
once in a while when she felt able, you 
could meet at her house.” 

“What a perfectly fine plan,” cried 
Edna. “Will you tell Agnes and Celia 
about it, Mrs. Ramsey 1” 

“Why certainly, if you like.” 

“Now*? This afternoon when you take 
us to our houses, Dorothy and mef’ 

“I don’t see any objection.” 

The upshot of this was that Miss Eloise 
was admitted to the club to her intense 
delight. After Agnes and Celia had been 



A NEW MEMBER 


225 


to see her they were so enthusiastic that 
all the girls in the club by twos and threes 
paid her visits, and she came to know 
them every one. 



CHAPTER XII 


THE FLOWER PLAY 

As the time approached for the flower 
play to be given attention there was con¬ 
siderable anxiety on the part of those who 
had taken it in hand. Ben declared that 
while he could do the main part of the 
work all right, he must have help of the 
girls in certain directions. “I’m no good 
at all when it comes to dialogue,” he told 
them. “I can do the mechanical part, 
get the thing into shape for the stage, give 
you the general plot and all that, but 
you’ll have to do the dialogue.” 

“Oh, but Ben,” said Agnes, “suppose 
we can’t.” 

“Then it will have to fall through.” 

226 


THE FLOWER PLAY 


227 


The girls looked very sober over this; 
they realized that Ben was giving them 
more than they had any right to expect, 
and they could not ask him to give his 
studies second place. “Well,” said 
Agnes rather dolefully, “we’ll have to do 
the best we can.” 

“Angels can do no more,” returned Ben, 
“and since you are so near to that class of 
beings you ought to be able to do some¬ 
thing pretty fine.” 

The compliment had the effect of bring¬ 
ing a smile to Agnes’s face and so the 
matter rested for that day. However, it 
was a subject which could not be allowed 
to rest for very long as the time was fast 
approaching when the parts must be given 
out for the girls to study. “And there 
will have to be ever so many rehearsals, ’ ’ 
said Agnes woefully to Celia as they were 
talking it over together on the Conways’ 
porch. 



228 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“We don’t seem to make a bit of head¬ 
way,” said Celia. “What we have 
written sounds so silly and flat. I’m 
afraid it will never be the kind of thing 
we hoped for.” 

“Ben has a lovely little plot and all the 
ideas he has given us about the scenes and 
the dressing of the characters and the 
funny situations are mighty good,” re¬ 
turned Agnes, “it does seem as if between 
us all we ought to be able to do the rest 
when we have eighteen regular members 
in the club and two honorary ones.” 

Edna who was sitting on the top step 
listening attentively to all this, looked up. 
“Why don’t you ask Miss Eloise to help 
you? She would love to, and she tells 
such beautiful, beautiful stories, you 
know.” 

“That is a brilliant idea,” returned 
Agnes, “but she says she can never write 
them, she can only tell them.” 



THE FLOWER PLAY 


229 


“But couldn’t she tell what to say and 
one of you write it down?” 

Agnes looked at Celia and Celia looked 
at Agnes. “She has struck it, I do be¬ 
lieve,” cried Celia. 

“Edna, honey, you are a child worth 
knowing, ’ ’ said Agnes. ‘ ‘ The idea of your 
thinking of such a simple way out of the 
trouble when the rest of us were fumbling 
around for ideas. Of course that can be 
done, and as you say, I have no doubt but 
that Miss Eloise will be perfectly delight¬ 
ed to do anything she can for the club. 
Where is Ben? Do hunt him up, Edna, 
that’s a good child.” 

As Edna generally knew Ben’s haunts 
she was not long in finding him. He was 
much interested in what she had to say, 
threw down the book he was studying and 
went with her to join the girls. He was 
really very anxious to please them all and 
would go to almost any lengths to do it. 



230 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“Ben,” cried Agnes as lie came up on 
the porch. “Isn’t that a fine scheme that 
Edna has thought of?” 

“I should smile, and I have thought of 
just the stunt to get it in shape the quick¬ 
est. If one of you girls will go with me 
to present me to the lady, I can take down 
what she says in shorthand and knock it 
off on the type-writer afterward. Then 
we’ll all get together, you two girls, Miss 
Eloise and yours truly, and we’ll put the 
whole thing into shape in double-quick 
time. How does that strike you ? ’ ’ 

“Ben, you have saved our lives. When 
can you go to see Miss Eloise ? This after¬ 
noon? It is Saturday and you haven’t 
anything on hand more important than 
foot-ball, have you?” 

“Do not speak slightingly of my 
athletic sports, if you please. However, 
I can forego the delights of being mauled 
for one afternoon, I reckon, and am at 



THE FLOWER PLAY 


231 


your service, fair lady. When shall you 
want to start?” 

“Oh, right after luncheon, I think; as 
early as possible so as to have a good long 
afternoon. I do hope Miss Eloise is feel¬ 
ing fairly well to-day.” 

Miss Newman says she is better all the 
time nowadays, since she has so much 
more to interest her,” piped up Edna. 
“She told me yesterday that she had not 
had one of those dreadful attacks for ever 
so long.” 

“Then let us hope for the best,” an¬ 
swered Ben. 

It was exactly as Edna had predicted; 
Miss Eloise entered into the plan with the 
greatest eagerness, and when Ben had 
opened up his plot to her and had showed 
her how he had planned the scenes she 
said she would take a few minutes to think 
it over and then she thought she could 
give him some of the needed dialogue, and 



232 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


before they left Ben had taken down as 
much as was necessary for this first time, 
promising to come back for the rest. 

44 I’ll get this into shape and bring it 
with me,” he told Miss Eloise. 

4 4 And we can make copies so as to give 
out that much for the girls to learn,” said 
Agnes. 

They returned in high spirits, and for 
some time Ben’s type-writing machine 
was heard clicking away. The characters 
had already been talked over and the 
principle ones given out. Ben had 
chosen very pretty fantastic names for 
the various flowers who were to be repre¬ 
sented. Jennie was to be Pussy Willow; 
Edna, Pinky Blooms; Dorothy, Daisy 
White; Agnes, Rose Wild; Celia, Violet 
Blue, while Ben, himself was to be the old 
giant, Pine Knot, who lived in a swamp. 
It had been found necessary to introduce 
some of the boys into the play so Charlie 



THE FLOWER PLAY 


233 


and Frank Conway, Steve and Roger 
Porter were pressed into service. Char¬ 
lie was to be Sassy Fras; Frank, 
Winter Green; Steve, Cran Berry, while 
Roger was to be the giant’s henchman, 
Pine Needles. 

The play was not to be for a week after 
school closed that they all might have 
plenty of time for its preparation with¬ 
out interfering with their school work. 
There was never very much fuss made 
over the closing by Uncle Justus, so there 
was not that excitement. Mr. Horner 
did not believe in showy commencements, 
and when the girls were graduated they 
simply received their diplomas after a few 
simple exercises, and then the school was 
dismissed. Therefore, the play was the 
great subject of conversation among the 
scholars. The girls who were already in 
the club were triumphantly sounding its 
praises to those who were not, while 



234 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


those who were not in were clamoring for 
entrance. However, it had been decided 
that no more new members would be ad¬ 
mitted until fall, as there was already 
enough heart-burning over the players 
and their parts. The giving out of these 
had been left entirely to Miss Eloise who 
had chosen as she thought best, so there 
was at least no one of the girls to accuse of 
partiality. Margaret in the very begin¬ 
ning announced that her mother did not 
want her to take part and that she did 
not care to herself, as she was to have the 
fun of entertaining them all at her house, 
and moreover, she “couldn’t act any more 
than a broomstick. ” 

Of all the girls who felt the most bitter 
probably Clara Adams was the one who 
was chief among them. It was the great¬ 
est grievance she had ever known, in the 
first place not to take part in such a thing 
and in the second not even to be invited 



THE FLOWER PLAY 


235 


to the entertainment. Each girl in the 
club was allowed to ask two persons, and 
each one taking part in the play was al¬ 
lowed the same privilege, therefore, with 
her two brothers among the characters 
and her sister as well, Edna was free to ask 
anyone she chose. Mr. and Mrs. Horner 
had received an invitation from the whole 
club, so had Miss Newman, and the other 
teachers, and many of the pupils who 
were outside the charmed circle were in¬ 
vited by their schoolmates who were free 
to give invitations, only Clara Adams was 
not considered for a moment by anyone, 
and she was very miserable over the fact. 
If ever she regretted her past disagree¬ 
able treatment of her school fellows, it 
was now, but she would not have admitted 
this even to herself, although in her heart 
of hearts she was conscious of it being 
so. 

“I’m not coming back here to school 



236 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


next year,” she announced to Edna one 
day. The two had little chats once in 
a while and, to do Clara justice, she did 
her best to be pleasant whenever Edna 
gave her the chance. 

“Oh, aren’t you? Why not?” asked 
Edna. 

Clara was silent for a moment, then 
she said, quite honestly, “My father can’t 
afford to send me to such an expensive 
school. I suppose I shall have to go to 
the public school.” Then in a new acces¬ 
sion of pride, “Anyhow, father likes the 
public school better.” 

“Oh,” Edna could not truthfully say 
she was sorry, for the fact, though she 
was sorry for the girl. She told the other 
girls what Clara had said and the gist of 
most of the responses was “Good rid¬ 
dance to bad rubbish.” So it did not 
look very favorable for an enthusiastic 
farewell to poor Clara in the way of at- 



THE FLOWER PLAY 


237 


tentions to a departing friend. If any¬ 
one thought of her at all it was Edna, and 
she was too busy with all her other in¬ 
terests to give much regret to Clara. 

It was only when her mother asked her 
one day, “Has anyone invited Clara 
Adams to the great meeting of the club 
when you are to wind up the year with 
such a flourish ?” that her conscience be¬ 
gan to prick her. 

“Nobody has asked her,” she answered, 
“and she is dying to come. She isn’t 
coming back to school next year, you 
know.” 

“Yes, I think you told me that. I feel 
very sorry for her. Of course, she is not 
at all the kind of child I should choose 
for a companion for my little girl, but I 
am very glad you have tried to be kind to 
her, though I cannot say I regret her leav¬ 
ing the school you attend.” 

Edna was silent for a moment and so 



238 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


was her mother who presently asked: 
“Have you given out all your invitations, 
dear ?” 

“No, mother, I still have one.” 

“Whom did you send the other to?” 

“Miss Martin. She and her father 
were so nice to me at the fair you know, 
but one of the other girls has invited Mr. 
Martin.” 

“I see. That was certainly a very 
good choice for you to make.” 

“I can’t quite decide about the other 
one,” Edna went on. “I want to give it 
to the one who wants it most, of the two 
girls at school who would love to have 
it.” 

“Is one of them Clara Adams?” 

“Oh, mother, no. Nobody wants her.” 
Then after a silence, “I suppose she 
wants to come badder than anyone else, 
but—mother, do you think, do you really 
think I ought to invite her?” 



THE FLOWER PLAY 


239 


“Why, my dear, that is for you to 
decide.” 

“Oh, dear ,’ 2 Edna gave a long sigh. 
Never in her life had she been more put 
to it to make up her mind. “I don’t 
want to one bit,” she declared after a 
moment’s thought. “All of the girls will 
be down on me and say I am a silly goose 
and all that.” 

“It is probably your very last chance 
of doing her a kindness as she will pos¬ 
sibly not cross your path again,” Mrs. 
Conway reminded her. 

Edna drew a longer sigh than before. 
The situation was getting harder and 
harder. “Mother,” she said with a woe¬ 
begone face, “why do the rightest things 
always be the hardest ones?” 

“I don’t think they always are, dear 
child. Is this so very hard?” 

“Oh, yes. I think it is the hardest 
thing I most ever had to do. Even last 



240 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


year when those things about Louis wor¬ 
ried me so, I didn’t mind so much, for I 
was really fond of Louis. He was my 
cousin and it seemed more as if I ought 
to.” 

4 ‘Well, dearie, suppose you think over 
it a while. You can keep back your invi¬ 
tation till the very last minute, you know, 
for if you do decide to let Clara have it, 
she will be glad to accept even at the 
eleventh hour, I am sure.” 

“Suppose she should say horrid mean 
things and stir up a fuss as she does so 
many times, I should feel so badly.” 

“I don’t believe she would do that be¬ 
cause she would be enjoying herself and 
would probably be on her best behavior. 
If you like, I will see that she sits next 
to me which would be quite right if she 
should be your guest, and it will not spoil 
my pleasure if she should make disagree¬ 
able remarks.” 



THE FLOWER PLAY 


241 


Edna went over and leaned her elbows 
on her mother’s lap, looking up in her 
face and asking. “What would you say 
to yourself if she made disagreeable re¬ 
marks V ’ 

“I should say, 6 Never mind; I am so 
happy that my own darling little girl 
made the sacrifice of asking her that noth¬ 
ing else matters much.’ ” 

“And you wouldn’t say anything to 
her?” 

“I should, no doubt, say several things 
to her,” replied Mrs. Conway kissing the 
eager face uplifted toward hers. 

Edna went over to the window and 
stood there a long time, but she saw none 
of the things she looked out upon. She 
was having a sharp struggle. Clara and 
her mother against all the girls in the 
club, that was the way it seemed to be, 
but finally the former conquered and she 
went back to where her mother still sat. 



242 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“Mother,” she said firmly, U I am going 
to invite Clara. I have made up my 
mind. Will you please ask Agnes and 
Celia to take my part?” 

“My blessed child, of course I will. 
What sort of a Golden Rule would it be 
that allowed a little girl to be chidden for 
carrying out its precepts. As president, 
of your club, Agnes will surely see that 
you are acting upon its principles, and 
Celia, too, must see it. They must not 
let their enjoyment and their love of 
harmony make them forget that part.” 

Then Edna snuggled very close to her 
mother and felt comforted. “I am not 
going to keep her from knowing,” she 
said. “I’ll tell her first thing, so she can 
have the fun of looking forward to it.” 
When Edna did a thing there was no 
doing it by halves. 

Therefore it was a surprised and de¬ 
lighted Clara who received her invitation 



THE FLOWER PLAY 


243 


the next day, and to Edna’s great satis¬ 
faction all the good in the girl rose to the 
occasion. “I think you are the very 
sweetest girl I ever knew, Edna Conway, ’ ’ 
she said, “and I am sorry, I really am, 
that I haven’t always been friends with 
you. I was horrid, often I was, ’ ’ and this 
was Edna’s compensation. 

Such a flutter and flurry and whispering 
and giggling there was on that afternoon 
when everything was in readiness for the 
little flower play. There was quite a large 
audience gathered on the smooth green 
lawn where seats had been placed for 
them. The shrubs and flower beds with 
trees beyond made a fine background for 
the stretch of terrace, which became a 
stage for the occasion. Jennie in a fuzzy 
grayish brown frock with a hood, made 
a dear little Pussy Willow, Edna in pink 
with her rosy cheeks was the very picture 
of Pinky Blooms, Dorothy’s golden head 



244 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


made a lovely centre for Daisy White, 
while as for Ben, the big giant, he was the 
roughest, toughest old Pine Knot one 
could imagine. 

“If only Miss Eloise could be here to 
see us,” said Edna as she peeped from 
behind the leafy screen which hid the 
flower fairies from view. 

Dorothy was peeping, too, and present¬ 
ly she exclaimed, “She is here! Oh, 
Edna, she is here! See, they are bring¬ 
ing her now!” And sure enough, there 
in her wheeled chair was Miss Eloise, her 
lovely face all smiles as her sister and 
Mr. Ramsey pushed her chair along. 

“I do believe Mrs. Ramsey brought her 
out,” cried Edna. 

“She did,” Jennie told them, “I didn’t 
tell, because I thought it would be such 
a nice surprise for everybody. ’ ’ 

A surprise it was indeed, and because 
of her presence, or because it is generally 



THE FLOWER PLAY 


245 


so, they all did much better than at any 
of their rehearsals and received such ap¬ 
plause as quite overpowered them. Then 
Mr. Ramsey raised a call for “Author! 
Author!” So after some little delay 
Ben, still in his giant’s dress, was brought 
around and wheeled Miss Eloise out to 
the very front where she was given 
another round of applause and more 
flowers than she could hold. She quite 
forgot herself in her anxiety that Ben 
should receive what was due to him and all 
unmindful of the large audience, she 
cried out, “Oh, but I did so little; it is 
all Ben’s plan!” 

Then Ben was cheered, and in the midst 
of such very special demonstrations he 
beat a retreat. 

Clara established by Mrs. Conway’s 
side had not a word of anything but 
praise and delight, and after the little 
players came out to mix with their friends 



246 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


she sought out Edna. “It was the love¬ 
liest thing I ever saw,” she told her, “and 
I do thank you for letting me come. ’ ’ 

“She was really very decent,” said the 
girls, looking after her as she started for 
home with her mother who called for her. 

Edna watched her out of sight, a feeling 
of pity mingled with gladness in her 
heart. And so Clara Adams passed out 
of her life, for before another year the 
entire family had moved out west, and 
the places which saw Clara Adams saw 
her no more. 

The stars were coming out before they 
all left Mrs. MacDonald’s. The guests 
had taken their departure earlier and had 
been as complimentary as anyone could 
desire. Miss Eloise, tired but very 
happy, had gone off with the Ramseys 
in their motor-car. Edna, Dorothy and 
Margaret walked down to the gate to 
watch the sunset, all yellow and glowing. 




At the Gate to Watch the Sunset all Yellow and 

Glowing. 















# 































































THE FLOWER PLAY 


247 


“Miss Newman looked almost pretty,” 
said Dorothy. “She had such a dear 
frock on and her hair is much nicer the 
way she wore it to-day. I shall feel so 
very different about having her for a 
teacher next year.” 

“So shall I,” agreed Edna. 

Moggins, Margaret’s cat had sought 
them out and was rubbing up against his 
little mistress. “Oh, you poor dear, I 
don’t believe anyone has thought to give 
you your milk,” said Margaret. So she 
went off with the cat in her arms. 

Then “Where are you, Dorothy?” 
cried her sister, and Dorothy scampered 
off that she might not be left behind on 
the homeward walk. 

Edna walked slowly toward the house. 
Halfway up the walk she met Uncle Jus¬ 
tus. “I was just coming for you to walk 
home with me,” he told her. “Tour aunt 
and I are going to stay all night.” 



248 A DEAR LITTLE GIRL AT SCHOOL 


“I’m glad of that,” Edna replied slip¬ 
ping her hand into his. 

They walked on toward the road, quite 
silent for a few moments, till Edna look¬ 
ing up, said, “Uncle Justus, I think you 
have a perfectly lovely school. ’ ’ 

He smiled down at her. 

“I have some perfectly lovely pupils,” 
he answered with a smile. 


THE END 





) 



/ 




. 













































































V 












*1 































* 




















































✓ 













































. 




T 








> 



























* 







/ 







\ 



; 


\ 










































































